Igniting the Fire
by KristaXCore
Summary: Twins Ellie and Eli, who both carry the X gene find themselves hiding out in Bayville. With nowhere else to go and no one to turn to, they must keep their powers under control and their dark family secret quiet. Mutants can only go unnoticed for so long. What happens when the X-Men come knocking at their door? Or the Brotherhood? Where will their allegiances lie? OCXPietro
1. Chapter 1

Before You Read: This fan fiction is taking place before Apocalypse returns and will follow an alternate storyline from the TV show, X-Men Evolution. However, many events that occurred in the show will occur in this fan fiction as well. The rating is T just to be on the safe side. I would like to make it clear that I only own the OC's within this fan fiction. All X-Men characters and their awesome abilities belong to Marvel. Now, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The air had grown cold as the hours passed, the sun vanishing and the moon taking its place in the dark sky. Shadows stretched over the cracked pavement and tall buildings as Ellie Dingo slipped into an alleyway. She was not comfortable being around other people in this strange new town yet. She was well aware of what the consequences would be if she were to lose her cool.

Ellie pushed her pale blonde hair behind her ear, a few strands coiling around her numerous piercings as she did so. Her breath turned to steam the moment it escaped her slightly cracked lips. She kept her eyes narrowed as she made her way through the alley. This city was uninviting but it had to be better than the last one. It did not matter if it truly was or not in the end because there was no going back to her last home. She had ruined her chances there long ago. The worst part was that she had ruined that life for her brother as well.

Ellie tilted her head over her shoulder, only to catch the light blue eyes of her twin brother, Eli. He gave her a crooked smile and she turned away from him. Although they were only born a few minutes apart, Eli towered over Ellie by nearly one foot. She had assumed that this was because Eli had been born first and was perfectly healthy, whereas she needed help breathing for nearly two weeks before her lungs could work on their own.

"Hey El, you feeling okay?" Eli asked using his nickname for Ellie. She stopped walking.

"I'm fine. I will feel better once we find a place to stay," she replied, her eyes still focused ahead of her. Eli placed a large hand on his sisters shoulder.

"You know, mom did mention a few times when we were younger that Aunt Mildred had a vacation house in this town. I remember visiting her a few times there even." Ellie quickly turned toward him, anger clear in her eyes.

"Don't you even speak of that woman! I don't care what she mentioned when we were children, she is and will always be a liar!" Ellie screamed as she pushed Eli's hand off her shoulder.

"I know how you feel about mom, El. Don't you think that I'm just as angry with her? All I am saying is that we need a place to stay and we have a solution."

Ellie stared down at the pavement quietly. Her fists were balled at her sides as she thought of her mother. The Dingo's had a normal family life in a household that consisted of a mother, a father, and twins, one boy and one girl. They were considered upper-class citizens, and lived in a nice house. Ellie and Eli made excellent grades in school and they had plenty of friends. This perfect little world, this perfect little _family_, all fell apart at the discovery of one gene. The X gene.

The X gene was present in both Eli and Ellie when they were 12 years old. Being children, they were unaware of what the X gene was and did not care about it at all. Their parents, however, were unhappy and yet intrigued by this. Ellie remembered their mother and father driving them to a building where they both worked as scientists. They were to never leave that building again. Both their mother and father worked for HYDRA.

"Fine. If you can remember where Aunt Mildred's stupid vacation house is, then lead the way. If she is there for some reason, we find somewhere else to go, got it?" Ellie told her brother as she placed her hands on her hips. Eli gave her a wide smile before walking past her.

"Hey calm down will you? We don't need anyone to know what we are," Ellie scolded her brother in a hushed tone. Flowers had started to spring up from the pavement where Eli had stepped.

"Oh yeah, my bad," he laughed before holding his palm out, directed at the ground. The flowers wilted and crumbled to dust instantly.

"_Oh Eli, please control yourself. We have nowhere else to go. Bayville is our last and only hope_," Ellie thought to herself as she forced herself to keep her own powers under control.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? I know it was a pretty basic, bland beginning but I can assure you that I gave you important background information! Ellie and Eli's powers will be explained/shown in later chapters. For now I just want you to really understand them as characters. Reviews are always appreciated! Messages as well! I do hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Are you sure that this is the right house?" Ellie asked her brother as she scanned the dreary, vine covered home in front of her.

"Yeah I'm sure. See, Auntie Mildred still has those awful gnomes by the front door," Eli replied as he pointed to the stout figurines.

The twins both pushed open the gate that was surrounding the perimeter of the house, flakes of rust falling to the ground as they did so. Ellie ran her palms down the side of her jeans while Eli clapped his hands together a few times. The two made their way to the front door. Eli twisted the knob only to find the door locked. He looked to his sister.

"Wanna bet where they hide the spare key?" Eli asked as he waggled his eyebrows at his sister. Ellie's blue eyes lit up slightly.

"In the porch light case," she guessed.

"Under the welcome mat." Eli flipped the mat to find that the key was not there. Ellie smirked.

Eli flipped open the glass that surrounded the unlit porch light and ran his fingers along the inside. He raised his eyebrows when he felt the cold key under his fingers and pulled it from its hiding spot. He frowned as Ellie smiled.

"Told you so," she gloated before swiping the key from his hand. She jammed the dusty key into the lock and the two entered the house.

The inside of the house matched the outside in the aspect that it had been abandoned for quite sometime. Cob webs were clinging to the high ceilings and dust covered the hardwood floors. Eli flipped a nearby switch and the room lit up, a dim cast of light illuminating the deep red walls.

"Well, it looks like we've found our new home!" Eli said in his usual upbeat tone. Ellie scrunched her nose up at her surroundings.

"I'm surprised our dear Auntie left this place in this condition. You know how much she hated filth," she pointed out.

"So the woman had a complex, big deal. It's kinda like you and your whole brooding thing."

"You're not funny, Eli. Now make sure you locked that door," Ellie ordered as she dropped the deep teal backpack that had been strapped to her back onto the floor. Eli did as he was told before walking through the house.

Ellie remained in the hallway while she waited for Eli to return. A few more lights turned on in the house before Eli groaned loudly. Ellie nervously made her way into the kitchen area where her brother was.

"No water," he informed her.

"Well, we can make do," she added before turning toward the refrigerator. She shoved the massive appliance forward and plugged it into the wall.

Eli watched his sister intently before grabbing a glass cup from a nearby cupboard. He placed it onto the shimmering, black counter top quietly and turned toward the counter, hiding the cup with his body. He held his hand over the cup and his arm began to turn into clear water. The water dripped from his now liquefied fingertips into the glass and he smiled.

"Eli!" Ellie screamed, causing him to release a large gush of water from his hand. Eli turned around quickly, his arm returning to its fleshy state.

"What are you doing? I told you not to use your powers! Especially that one," Ellie scolded.

"It's okay Ellie. Seriously, I just filled up a glass with some water. I don't see how that is going to cause any sort of problems," Eli explained. Ellie was not convinced.

"You know what happens when we use our powers. Have you forgotten that HYDRA is still looking for us? When you use that power they could locate you."

"Calm down, alright? They gave us these powers, El. We need to accept that and use them."

"You're wrong, Eli. They _forced_ these powers on us. We were fine just they way we were. We were perfect with only one power but they refused to believe that. We were test subjects Eli."

Eli grabbed his sister and hugged her into his chest. He rested his squared chin upon her blonde hair and squeezed her tightly. Her small body was shaking with what he expected to be anger and possibly a bit of sadness as well. He smiled when he felt her small hands grip the back of his shirt.

"You act like I don't remember what happened to us. I was there right beside you the whole time we were in that lab, Ellie. I am just trying to embrace what I have become. I wish you were able to do the same," Eli told her softly.

"I'm only 16 years old. I have flamethrowers instead of arms, and you're a walking bag of water," Ellie replied. Eli snorted a small laugh.

"Don't forget that you can fly. You have complete control of the air and you can fly away anytime you want. Nobody is going to be able to cage you again because they won't be able to catch you." Ellie pushed away from her brother.

"But you can't, Eli. I'm never going to leave you behind. We have to pretend that these powers don't even exist, alright? I don't think that I can run anymore," she told him. Eli lifted Ellie's chin with his finger.

"Alright then. I'll stop using my powers." Ellie gave Eli a small smile before turning toward the now full glass of water. She lifted it to her lips and drank the entire thing.

"Thanks for that," she said to her brother with a wink before leaving the kitchen. Eli crossed his arms and laughed.

"No problem!" he called after her.

* * *

**Meanwhile at the Xavier Institute…**

Charles Xavier sat behind cerebro, a large computer that could find mutants, with his fingers pressed against his lips. Cerebro zoomed through a list of random faces and names, but nobody near the institute was showing signs of mutant abilities. Charles was about to remove cerebro's helmet from his head when cerebro showed him the face of a young boy.

Charles leaned forward in his wheelchair a bit more as he studied the boys face and age. He was a strong looking lad, with a big grin and short blonde hair. Charles smiled when he noticed the boys location was Bayville.

"_Logan, can I see you for a moment?"_ Charles asked using his telepathy.

"_On my way Charles,"_ Logan replied. Moments passed by before the door to the room where Professor Xavier was opened.

"So, did ya find anything interesting?" Logan asked as he approached cerebro and the Professor.

"I believe I have, Logan. This young man seems to carry the X gene and he has been using his powers quite recently. The good news is that he has been located here in Bayville," Charles explained. Logan examined the boys information a bit.

"So you think he may be worth visitin'?"

"Yes, I believe so. I believe that I will see if Kitty will accompany me to meet with him."

"Shadowcat? But why?" Logan sounded concerned.

"This boy is only 16 years old. I think that Kitty will be able to connect with him."

"Well, whatever you think is best, then do it. I'll be here if you need me." Logan left the room and Charles looked back at Cerebro.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Eli Dingo."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ellie woke up around 10 o'clock the next day in what had once been her now grown cousin's bed. She ran her palms over her face slowly before letting out a tired yawn. She could not remember the last time that she had slept in an actual bed. While she and Eli were held captive at HYDRA they were always placed in tanks full of green liquid that would put their bodies to sleep.

She got out of the king sized bed and tidied it up to its original state from the previous night. Her backpack sat in the corner of the stuffy room, and she pulled a handful of clothes and a toothbrush from it. With a fist rubbing her eye, Ellie walked out of the room and down the hall toward the bathroom. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at her brother who left the bathroom.

"Morning," Eli said to her as he ran a stained cloth over his hands.

"Good morning. What are you doing?" Ellie asked.

"Well, I figured it would be nice to shower today. I have managed to fill the bathtub up with water for you. It's not warm, though. In fact it's practically freezing." Ellie scrunched her brow together.

"How did you manage to get water in the bathtub?"

"Oh Ellie calm down. I had to snake the pipes a bit but I managed to get some water, alright? I promised you I would stop using my powers last night, and I have." Ellie sighed.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"It's no big deal. Now, enjoy your cold bath. I would mention that you could heat it up yourself, but I'm sure that's a no go." Ellie nodded before entering the bathroom.

Eli shut the door for her and threw the dirty cloth onto the floor. He examined his clean hands and smirked to himself. He didn't lie to Ellie very often, but he figured that she would enjoy a bath. His arms from the elbows down turned into clear water and he rubbed them over his face before making his way toward the kitchen.

After a few quick minutes in her freezing bath, Ellie got dressed and brushed her pin-straight hair. She was getting ready to turn the water on to brush her teeth when she heard the front door of the house open. Ellie quickly dropped her toothbrush onto the counter and ran down the hallway to find her brother. Her heart was racing as she nearly flew down the staircase. She stopped at the bottom, staring at Eli, a man in a wheelchair and a young brunette girl.

"Oh, hello there," the man in the wheelchair kindly said to Ellie. She approached her brother and grabbed onto his arm.

"Why are you here?" she asked quickly.

"Ellie, manners! Please forgive my sister, she's not exactly comfortable around strangers," Eli explained. The brunette girl smiled at Ellie.

"My name is Charles Xavier and this is Miss Kitty Pryde. May we come in and speak with you for a moment?" Professor Xavier asked. Eli motioned for them to come in and Ellie gripped his arm tighter.

"Whoa, this house is gorgeous!" Kitty exclaimed. Ellie watched her closely.

"Thank you, it's our aunt's actually. She's letting us use it for awhile," Eli told her. Kitty nodded in understanding.

Professor Xavier wheeled himself into the living room and Kitty sat next to him in a large arm chair. Eli sat on the black leather couch and Ellie sat right next to him. She was not too happy with her brother for allowing strangers to come into their home, but she knew that she had to protect him regardless.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Eli asked.

"I was actually going to ask you the same question, Eli," the Professor admitted. Eli's eyes widened.

"How do you know my name?" Ellie grabbed onto her brothers hand.

"There is no need to fret, children. You see, Eli, I am also a mutant. Kitty is as well and she is a student at my academy."

"You know about me?"

"I have a computer called cerebro that can locate mutants when they are using their powers. I happened to stumble upon you last night." Ellie nudged Eli hard.

"I told you not to use your powers!" she angrily whispered to him.

"So why are you here?" Eli asked.

"I would be honored if you would come to my institute. There I could help you learn how to control your powers and use them for good," Professor Xavier explained.

"I love it at the institute," Kitty added. "Everyone there is like totally friendly."

"You want to take Eli with you?" Ellie asked. The Professor nodded.

"What about me then?"

"You?" Kitty asked her.

"Well yeah. I'm -" Ellie was cut off by Eli squeezing her hand. The two looked at each other and Eli gave her a look indicating that she should not mention that she was a mutant.

"I'm his twin sister. I can't just let you steal him away," Ellie said, editing her original statement.

"You would be welcome to visit Eli anytime, my dear. There will be times when he is in training sessions or out on missions with the X-Men though," Charles explained. Ellie chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"The X-Men?"

"Yes, a group of my best students who use their powers for good. Eli would be considered a part of the new mutant team until his powers mature though."

"It's awesome being a member of the X-Men. I think that your brother would do really well at the institute."

Ellie looked to her brother after squeezing his hand. His eyes were shining and Ellie felt the back of her throat become dry. She could tell that he wanted to go with these people, but she knew that he would turn down their offer for her.

"Eli, I want you to go with them," Ellie said calmly. Eli turned toward her, shocked.

"What? But what about you?" he asked.

"Someone needs to stay here and watch this place. I can visit you sometimes too. Eli, you need to go with them."

"We will give the two of you a moment alone," Charles said as he and Kitty left the room. Eli and Ellie stood up from the couch and faced each other.

"I'm not going to leave you by yourself," Eli said.

"I'm a big girl, Eli. Nothing is going to happen to me. You said so yourself last night, nobody will be able to catch me," Ellie told him, sadness in her tone.

"You're sure about this?"

"I am. Who knows, maybe one day I'll come join you." Eli studied his sister's expression hard.

"Ellie, it would be wrong for me to leave you behind. You have been with me ever since we escaped HYDRA."

"Which is all the more reason that you need to go with them. We have been together so long that we have no idea how to survive apart from one another. If HYDRA did manage to find us, then it would be better if they only found one of us."

"But Ellie-," she cut him off.

"You're going with them. I'm going to protect you and this is the best way to do that. These people will help you Eli. If anything goes wrong, I will handle it."

Both of their blue eyes glistened slightly and Eli grabbed his sister into a tight hug. Ellie wrapped her arms around her brother and buried her face into his black t-shirt. Eli pulled away for a moment to look at her.

"Don't you dare start crying. You know what will happen if you do," he told her.

"I won't be able to start crying, and you won't be able to stop," she told him. Eli nodded.

"You two could like, see each other at school, ya know?" Kitty said quietly as she walked into the room again.

"Uhh, right," Eli said after hesitating.

"You're not enrolled at school? Either of you?" Charles asked as he rolled into the room. Ellie and Eli exchanged confused looks.

"I'm sorry, mind reading comes along with being a tele-path I'm afraid. Well no worry, I will have you both enrolled at Bayville High. You will both start there tomorrow," he explained.

"Thank you Professor. Well, I'll see you around Ellie," Eli said sadly. Ellie nodded.

She rubbed her arms as Eli went to gather his things. She jumped slightly when Kitty placed her hand on Ellie's shoulder. Ellie looked to the smiling brunette curiously.

"Hey, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm totally free. Seriously, if you need like, anything at all just let me know, okay?" Kitty told her. Ellie stared at her.

"Sure," she replied.

Eli was now in front of the front door with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He gave Ellie one last hug before leaving the house with the Professor and Kitty. Ellie shut the door and slid her back down it until she was sitting on the floor. Her body started to shake as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She squeezed them shut, and steam left her eyes instead of tears.

* * *

_**Bayville High**_

Lunch had just started at school and Pietro Maximoff sat with his arms crossed at a table with his housemates, Fred Dukes and Todd Tolansky. He had one foot on the edge of the table top while he leaned back in his plastic chair. He scowled as he saw Scott Summers enter the room.

"Man is it time to go home yet?" Lance Alvers groaned as he dropped his tray of food onto the table. "I'm dyin' here."

"I feel it yo," Todd added.

"Hey, why aren't you sitting with that X-loser?" Fred asked Lance. Pietro raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response as well.

"Don't talk about Kitty that way, Blob!" Lance yelled. "She's not here today. She had to go with the Professor to meet with some new mutant, so I'm stuck eating with you idiots today."

"New mutant, you say?" Pietro asked as he dropped his foot from the table allowing his chair to land on all fours.

"Yeah, so what?"

"So, that means that the X-Men have just gone up by one mutant. What's the kids name?" Lance shrugged.

"No idea. All Kitty said was that their last name is Dingo. I'm sure they will start coming to school soon."

"Dingo, huh?" Pietro started to rub his pointed chin.

"Uh-oh he's got that look again," Fred pointed out. Todd's eyes widened.

"Man I hate that look yo. What's goin' on in your head Pietro?" Todd asked. Pietro smirked.

"Boys, we're gonna convert this new X-Men member to the Brotherhood," he told them with a confident grin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Hours had passed and Ellie had not moved from the front door. She sat on the floor, her small body curled up tight as her sad eyes focused on the deep red wall beside her. The house was quiet without Eli and she hated it. Why did she have to tell him to go with Charles and Kitty? She sat quietly, regretting her decision to let her brother leave her when she heard a distinct "poof" on the other side of the door.

Half excited and half nervous, Ellie stood up and faced the door. Her already ripped jeans tore a bit more over her thigh as she pressed her body against the door. With a deep breath, she aligned her right eye with the peep hole in the door. She furrowed her brow when she saw a cloud of colored smoke and a basket on the front door step. Ellie pushed back from the door and started biting on her thumb nail.

She was curious to see what was inside the basket but she had no way of telling if it was a trap that someone had set for her. After all, her brother was just discovered as a mutant hours earlier, so couldn't the same be said for her? No, she hadn't used her powers since they had arrived in Bayville, so that mustn't have been it.

Without a second thought, Ellie tore open the door, grabbed the basket, and shut herself inside the house once more. She locked the door and carried the basket into the kitchen, setting it on top of the counter. She bit her thumb nail once again before opening the basket. She was confused at its contents.

Inside the basket was a thin black, watch like device that had a large red X on the front where the face should have been. Ellie set this aside before pulling a large wad of cash from the basket. Her blue eyes widened as she flipped through the green stack, the image of "20" and "10" showing every few seconds. After setting this aside as well, she noticed a jug full of water and a couple of sandwiches. A note stuck to the side of the basket caught her eye, and she read it to herself.

"Ellie, these are a few gifts from the Professor. I told him that you had no water, so he has made arrangements for the city to turn it on for you tomorrow morning before school. He's such an awesome guy, huh? I sent you all of the money that I had in my bag when I left because the Professor will be giving me an allowance, so you should have it. It's really awesome here El, there are tons of mutants here. I think that you would really like Mr. Logan. I'm not sure what his mutant power is yet, but he reminds me of you. Oh! The watch looking thing is actually a communicator that links you to me. Just push the X in the middle and I'll answer when I can. I really miss you Ellie. I'll see you at school tomorrow morning. I love you El. -Eli"

Ellie held the note to her chest as she forced herself to calm down. She looked at the generous gifts that were in front of her and nodded to herself. This confirmed that the Professor was a decent man. Her stomach grumbled and she grabbed one of the sandwiches for herself.

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

It was an early Thursday morning and the Brotherhood house was filled with the sound of grumpy teenage boys. Pietro sat in the living room, anxiously shaking his foot as he watched his housemates move from room to room to get ready for school. Pietro scrunched his nose up at Fred who walked passed the living room and into the kitchen wearing only his boxers. Todd leaped into the room, joining Pietro.

"Aw jeeze, Toad! How long has it been since you've showered?" Pietro asked as he waved his hand in front of his nose. Toad sniffed his shirt.

"About a month," he admitted. Pietro rolled his eyes.

"Are you losers almost ready? I swear I could have gone to China and have been back before any of you were dressed!"

"Shut up Pietro," Lance spit as he leaned against the open door frame. Fred waddled into the room behind him.

"Yeah, why're you in such a hurry to get to stupid school?" Fred asked. Pietro zipped around the room at lightning speed before stopping in front of Fred.

"Because Blob, today that new mutant should be in school. Did you all forget about our plan to snatch them away from the X-Men?" Pietro asked as he looked around at them.

"As if anyone would leave that cushy mansion for this dump," Lance said before crossing his arms.

"Yeah, I hear they have huge rooms over at that institute, yo," Toad added. Pietro ran toward him and swatted him in the head.

"Ow!" Toad yelled as he clutched onto his greasy hair.

"Remember, we are looking for anyone new with the last name Dingo, alright? If you see them, come find me, got it?" Pietro told them.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go," Lance said, unimpressed with the plan. The boys followed him out to his jeep and sped off down the road.

* * *

"_I have no idea where I'm going_," Ellie thought to herself as she nervously walked down the street.

She gripped the straps of her backpack as she passed an elderly man who smiled at her. She ignored his friendly gesture and hurried past him. She rounded the corner and noticed a few boys huddled around a Bus Stop sign. Ellie was not sure if this was the school bus route and she did not want to ask, so she waited for a moment. The sound of screeching tires caught her attention.

She watched a green jeep speeding down the road with four teenage boys yelling at one another in it. She raised her eyebrows as they flew past her, impressed that such a small jeep could carry that big of a boy in the back. The sound of a bus opening its doors pulled her attention from the jeep. The side of the bus read "Bayville High" so she hurried up and climbed on.

Ellie bit her bottom lip as she scanned the bus for an open seat. Her heart started to beat quickly as she noticed none of them were open. The bus driver cleared his throat.

"Sit down kid," he told her. Ellie glared at him before nervously looking around again.

"You can sit here if you want," a brunette boy said a few seats away from her. Ellie sized him up for a moment before reluctantly sitting next to him.

"I haven't seen you on the bus before. Are you new?" he asked. Ellie shrugged, not looking at him.

"My name is Bobby Drake in case you were wondering," he stuck his hand out to her. Ellie sneered at his hand before looking at him.

Bobby was an average looking teenage boy in her eyes. His brown hair could have used a quick brush through it and his khaki pants sagged a bit exposing his blue boxers. He had a sweet smile but Ellie was not going to make an attempt to befriend him.

"Do you talk like ever?" he laughed. Ellie sneered at him.

"Do you shut up, like ever?" she shot back, mocking him. He laughed and smiled at her.

"I like your sense of humor!"

"I take that as a no."

"Can't you just tell me your name?"

"Why?"

"Why not?" Ellie hesitated.

"Ellie. Ellie Dingo." Bobby's eyes lit up.

"Wait, do you have an older brother?" he asked her.

"No. I have a twin brother," she corrected him. He smiled.

"So you're the infamous Ellie that Eli can't stop talking about." Ellie perked up.

"You know Eli?" she asked quickly. He nodded.

"Sure do. He lives at the Institute with me. I'm like him, you see," he explained. Ellie's eyes widened.

"What can you do?" she asked him in a whisper. Bobby looked around impishly before balling his hands together.

Ellie watched him closely as he started moving his hands together. After a few moments, he parted his hands and a spiked ball of ice was revealed. Ellie examined the frozen figurine before smirking to herself.

"_No wonder I don't like this kid,"_ she thought to herself as she imagined herself torching the figurine.

"Cool, right?" Bobby asked, obviously impressed with himself. Ellie shrugged.

"I've seen better," she said before standing up. Bobby dropped the ice out of shock from her comment as he watched Ellie walk off the bus.

Her dirty white and black sneakers hit the pavement hard as she stepped off the bus. She looked around at the girls that were walking around the outside of the school and she raised an eyebrow. She was sitting in what appeared to be a sea of exposed midriffs and cleavage. She looked down at her own attire.

Her deep red t-shirt hugged her body but it covered her stomach, and her jeans fit her well, but they were torn in a few places and drug behind her sneakers a bit. The black hair tie that clung to her wrist left a small indentation on her skin from being too tight, but at least she could pull her hair up if she wanted to. The other girls did not look like high school kids, but she sure did. She pushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear, before walking into the building.

Ellie held her class schedule in her small hands as she looked around the hallway. Her first class was Advanced English, and she had no idea where to even begin looking for her classroom. Without a moment to think, Ellie was pushed into lockers, her schedule falling onto the floor. A large blond boy with a varsity jacket held a football in his hands and was laughing. He looked at Ellie unsympathetically.

"I almost missed that pass because of you, kid," he told her. Ellie sneered at him.

"Why are you throwing a football around inside anyway?" she spit back at him. The boy noticed her schedule on the floor and smirked at her.

"Listen newbie, I'm Duncan Matthews and I run this place. So stay out of my way," he told her as he pointed the football at her. Ellie swatted it away from her.

Duncan was approached by a few boys and they started laughing. Ellie felt her hands growing hotter and hotter but she fought the urge to use her powers. The boys walked away and there were only a few people left in the hallway.

"Here, you dropped this," a very large boy said as he held Ellie's schedule out to her. Ellie looked at him a bit surprised.

This was the boy that she saw in the jeep this morning. He was very tall and had to weigh a few hundred pounds. His blond Mohawk was styled perfectly while his overalls were stained. He seemed harmless enough, so Ellie took her schedule from him.

"Thank you," she said. The boy smiled down at her.

"No problem. That loser's a real jerk," he told her. Ellie nodded in agreement.

"My name's Fred by the way. Fred Dukes," he added.

"I'm Ellie," she replied with a small smile.

"You're bleeding a little bit, on your ear." Ellie touched her pierced ear.

"I think my ear cuff hit the locker. It'll stop soon enough."

"Probably. Well see ya around." Fred started to walk away when Ellie made a quick decision.

"Fred, wait! Can you tell me where my first class is?" she asked as she showed him her schedule. Fred examined it before smiling.

"Sure that's right down the hall, room 122 with Mrs. Graines. She's really annoying, be sure to be on time or you'll have hell to pay," he told her. Ellie smiled at him when the late bell rang.

"Great. Well I'll see you around Fred, thanks a bunch!" Ellie said as she ran down the hall. Fred waved at her before walking down the hall.

Ellie walked into her first class quickly and stopped in the doorway when the teacher stared at her. The entire class turned toward her, curious about who she was. Mrs. Graines glared at her.

"What do you want?" she asked. Ellie stiffened.

"I'm new," she said as she held up her schedule as if that proved it.

"Sit down back there. For future reference, be on time to my class." The students chuckled as Ellie walked to the only open desk in the room.

She dropped her back pack onto the ground and sat down on the green plastic chair. She noticed a silver-haired boy was sitting next to her with his chin rested on his fist. He was staring at the blackboard with a bored expression on his face but his knee bounced up and down beneath his desk. Ellie jumped when the teacher spoke.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" she asked, her hands on her hips. Ellie stood up from behind her desk.

"I'm new. I just moved to Bayville," Ellie said unhappily.

"Do you have a name?" Mrs. Graines said, annoyed. Pietro turned toward her now.

"Ellie. Ellie Dingo," she replied. Pietro dropped his hand to his desk and raised his eyebrows.

Ellie sat down quickly, her eyes narrowed and focused on the teacher. Pietro studied her now, hard. Her blonde hair fell to the small of her back and her long legs were stretched out under her desk. He squinted at her, making sure he took in every physical detail of her from her chipped fingernail polish to the small freckles over her nose. His eyes widened when he noticed an X-Men communicator strapped to her right wrist.

"_Gotcha," _he thought to himself with a smirk.

* * *

A/N: Any thoughts? Anyone? Thanks to the few of you who are reading this, it means a lot! Hopefully you are enjoying it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Pietro was sitting on the edge of his seat as he kept his eyes on Ellie. She looked at him from the corner of her eye for a few seconds, but he did not hold her attention. Pietro grinned to himself, happy that he was the one to find her instead of the other boys in the Brotherhood. He jumped when Ellie snapped her head toward him.

"Something caught your eye, kid?" she spit. Pietro cleared his throat.

"I could ask you the same question," he replied coolly.

"What?"

"Well you had to have been looking at me, looking at you, so did something catch _your_ eye?" Ellie was grinding her molars together.

"Had you not been staring me down I would not have addressed the situation at all!"

"Miss Dingo!" Mrs. Graines angrily said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Nothing," Ellie replied, her eyes narrowed at a now smiling Pietro.

"Well it certainly did not sound like nothing. Maybe you will tell me in detention tomorrow after school." The class started "oohing" in unison.

"Maybe I can correct your grammar while I'm at it." Ellie was referring to the sentence that Mrs. Graines had just written on the chalkboard. Pietro's mouth fell open.

"I beg your pardon?" Mrs. Graines asked loudly. Ellie smirked at her.

"You used the wrong form of the word "there". Your sentence should be "The two took **t-h-e-i-r** dog to the park, not "The two took **t-h-e-r-e** dog to the park"," Ellie corrected. Mrs. Graines was fuming.

"Honestly, what kind of Advanced English teacher are you?" Ellie continued with a scoff. Pietro looked between the two women quickly.

This girl definitely had spunk. This could mean one of two things for Pietro. One, she would jump at the chance to join a group of fellow delinquent's, or two, she was going to fight his attempt. Two seemed more likely.

Before Mrs. Graines had a chance to reply the bell rang. Ellie was the only one to stand up in the room. Everyone sat wide eyed as they watched her approach the chalkboard. Ellie licked her thumb and rubbed out the improper "there" before writing in the correct form with chalk. She slammed the chalk onto Mrs. Graines wooden desk before leaving the room. Everyone had now started to whisper while they gathered their things. Pietro hurried out of the room only to be caught in a swarm of students. He scowled as he realized he had lost her.

* * *

Ellie stood in the cafeteria that was bustling with students as she looked for Eli. She was growing a bit anxious seeing as how he did not make it a point to meet with her before class this morning. Ellie was nudged in the shoulder and her eyes instantly narrowed.

"Oh sorry, I didn't see- hey wait a minute, you're the newbie from this morning!" Duncan Matthews said as he pointed at her. Ellie scowled at him, her forearms and hands growing hot.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" she spit at him. Duncan glared at her.

"You need to learn your place around here, kid!" Duncan grabbed onto Ellie's shoulders roughly.

"You need to take your hands off my sister!" Eli angrily said as he approached the two. He quickly shoved Duncan backward with as much force as he could.

"Well it's about time," Ellie laughed as she held her fists up, readying herself for a fight. She furrowed her brow when Eli grabbed onto her shoulder, shaking his head from side to side.

"Are you serious?" Ellie asked him in disbelief. "You mean we aren't going to clobber this creep right now?"

"No Ellie. I mean c'mon he's like half my size," Eli laughed. Duncan scowled at the two before turning away from them.

"You're both a couple of freaks," he told them before walking away. Ellie could feel her hands burning as she watched him walk away.

"Ellie, you need to calm down now," Eli told her. "I know he made you mad, but it's fine. You don't want to blow your cover." Ellie sighed before looking up at him.

"Why didn't you find me this morning?"

"I was going to contact you with the communicator but I had an impromptu Danger Room session this morning. I'm sorry El." Ellie crossed her arms over her chest.

She was more upset with Eli than she was angry, but she was unhappy that he seemed to be so caught up in his new life that he was forgetting about her. Had he been with her this morning Duncan probably would have just left her alone, she wouldn't have been late for class and then she would have had a good first class. Ellie scolded herself for these thoughts. All she ever wanted was for Eli to be happy and that's what he was.

"Do you want to eat lunch with me?" Eli asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. Ellie nodded in response.

She followed behind Eli as he approached a long table in the center of the cafeteria. Kitty recognized Ellie instantly and waved to her. Ellie gave her a small smile in return before sitting next to Eli. She scanned the table, examining everyone there. A tall boy with glasses sat next to an attractive girl with red hair, and she was sitting next to Kitty. Beside her was a boy with a goofy smile and deep blue hair which finished off that side of the table. On the other side of Eli there was a girl with white and brown hair that was talking to Bobby Drake next to her. A dark skinned boy with blonde hair was sleeping at the end of the table.

"Ellie, these are my new friends from the Xavier Institute," Eli began. "This is Kurt, you already know Kitty, Jean, Scott, Evan, Bobby, and Rogue." He pointed to everyone as he introduced them.

"Guys, this is my sister Ellie," he told them. Everyone greeted her, minus Evan who was still asleep.

"Yeah, hi," she replied, uncomfortable.

"So like how are you liking Bayville High?" Kitty asked. Ellie shrugged.

"It's school," she replied plainly.

"It's so weird that you two are twins yet you don't have powers," Rogue said as she leaned forward so she could see Ellie. She didn't respond.

"Was it hard for you growing up with a brother who was special?" Jean asked. Ellie remained quiet.

"Ellie's a bit shy," Eli laughed trying to break the awkward tension. Ellie rested her head in her hands as everyone continued talking to each other.

* * *

_**Across the cafeteria…**_

In the corner of the cafeteria Fred Dukes sat with his housemate Todd. The boys were waiting for Lance and Pietro to arrive to see if either one of them had found the new mutant yet. Fred ate a large sub-sandwich while Todd twisted his pinky finger into his ear. After a few minutes, both Lance and Pietro joined them.

"Where have you guys been?" Todd asked.

"We were looking for the new mutant, Toad," Lance started. "Something that the two of you should be doing."

"Hey, we've been lookin'," Fred said. Pietro scoffed.

"Yeah, well I have actually found her," he told them. Toad raised his eyebrows at the news.

"_Her_?" he asked. Pietro nodded.

"Yeah. She's small but she has a really big attitude. Her hair is blonde, her eyes are blue and she has like ten piercings in her ears," Pietro told the boys. Toad grinned.

"Sounds like my kinda chick," he told them as he waggled his eyebrows.

"I met a girl this morning," Fred said. Everyone ignored him.

"Her name is Ellie and she is wearing a red t-shirt, ripped jeans, sneakers and an X-Men communicator on her wrist," Pietro explained. Fred thought to himself for a minute.

"I met her this morning," Fred inserted. Now everyone paid attention to him.

"You what!" Pietro yelled. "You met her and didn't tell any of us?" Fred shrugged.

"Well I didn't know we were lookin' for a girl," Fred said defending himself. Pietro slapped his forehead.

"Aw Blob, you're useless," he told him. He looked at the table where the X-Men usually sat and sure enough she was sitting there.

Pietro rubbed his pointed chin as he looked around at the group. Everyone was chatting as usual, but there was a huge blond boy sitting with them today. Pietro sneered as he realized he must have been Ellie's boyfriend or something. He looked back to Blob with a grin.

"Say Blob, why don't you see if little Miss Ellie wants to join us for lunch," Pietro told him.

"Yeah, do that!" Toad happily agreed. Fred rubbed his Mohawk.

"I dunno, what if she says no?"

"Say no to a handsome guy like you? _Never_. Now get to it," Pietro ordered.

Still unsure of the plan, Fred waved to Ellie across the cafeteria. Pietro watched from his chair as she lifted her head from her hands and smiled at Blob. She looked to the boy that she had been sitting next to, said something to him, and started to approach their table. Pietro grinned to himself when Ellie stood next to Blob.

"Hi Fred," she said with a smile.

"Hey. Do you wanna eat with us?" Fred asked, motioning to the boys. Ellie looked around at them all, her eyes narrowing as they landed on Pietro.

"You again?" she asked as she put her hands on her hips. The other three boys looked to Pietro.

"You following me now?" he replied with a smirk. Ellie rolled her eyes.

"I would eat with you Fred but my brother already asked me to eat with him," Ellie told her large friend as she pointed her thumb back at the other table.

"Brother?" Toad asked as he craned his neck to see.

"Yeah, Eli. He's my twin," Ellie added. The four boys exchanged confused glances.

"Wait, so the X-Men have _two_ new recruits? We're toast!" Toad screamed as he grabbed his head.

"Way to go Lance! You told us there was only one!" Pietro yelled. Lance narrowed his eyes at Pietro.

"Kitty only told me it was one!" Lance yelled back. Ellie stood idly by with her eyebrow raised at the arguing boys.

"I'm not an X-Man," she told them. The boys instantly quieted down.

"You're not?" Blob asked her. Ellie shook her head.

"You guys obviously know about the X-Men so I suppose it's safe to say that I'm not with them. I'm not a mutant," she lied expertly. Pietro furrowed his brow at her.

"But you have that communicator," Lance pointed out. Ellie examined her wrist accessory.

"I have it to keep in contact with my brother. He's the new X-Men member," she explained. The boys starred at Eli from across the room.

"Well then we don't need you. You can go now," Pietro told her as he waved her away with his hand. Ellie wrinkled her nose at him.

"Fine, I didn't want to sit with you anyway. See you around Fred," Ellie angrily shot back before walking back to the other table.

"You didn't have to be so mean to her," Fred told Pietro, a bit sad that his new friend wasn't going to be joining him.

"Yeah man, way to blow a good opportunity," Lance pointed out. "You really expect Eli to join the Brotherhood after being a complete prick to his sister?"

"Oh he'll join," Pietro assured them. "I'll make sure of it."

* * *

A/N: Thank you to those of you that are reviewing this! It means a lot. Also, sorry for the delay on this, it's been a busy week.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Who were you talking to?" Eli asked as Ellie sat next to him at the lunch table once more.

"My friend Fred Dukes," she replied angrily. Jean and Scott exchanged nervous looks.

"Why so grumpy sunshine?" Eli taunted as he poked her in the shoulder. Ellie swatted his hand away.

"I'm not grumpy," she replied. "I just hate that stupid silver-haired boy." The X-Men all groaned in unison.

"You mean Pietro?" Evan asked, now awake. "Yeah, he's a total loser." Ellie raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yah, why did you even go talk to him?" Kurt asked.

"I just said that Fred was my friend," she reminded him. "I just didn't realize Pietro would be there." Ellie felt strange saying his name.

"Well, what did Blob want?" Kitty asked. Ellie gave her a confused look.

"Oh, sorry. That's Fred's codename," Kitty explained. "You see, he's like part of the Brotherhood, a group of delinquent mutants. Pietro goes by Quicksilver, Todd goes by Toad, and Lance goes by Avalanche."

"Yah, _Laaaance_," Kurt taunted Kitty as he said his name in a dreamy tone. Kitty nudged his shoulder.

"Well then that explains a lot. They thought that I was the new X-Men member," Ellie told them. Scott leaned forward onto the table and turned to Kitty.

"I wonder how they found out we even had a new recruit," he said in an unhappy tone. Kitty blushed and looked at the table top.

"Ellie, what did they want from you?" Jean asked.

"They wanted me to eat lunch with them. They weren't interested once they found out that I was normal though." Eli glanced at his sister with a small smirk.

"I bet they want to try and steal Eli for themselves," Scott told Jean. She nodded in agreement.

"Listen Ellie, those boys are bad news," Jean told her. "You should stay away from them." Ellie scoffed.

"Yeah well, I'll decide who to stay away from on my own thanks," Ellie replied before leaving the table. Rogue watched her intently as Eli went after her.

"Hey, Jean's just trying to help you out," Eli explained. Ellie turned to face her brother.

"Well I don't need _Jean_ to help me out," she told him. "I'm just having trouble getting adjusted to all of this, okay?" Eli gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I know you are. You're doing fine Ellie, just try and be a little nicer to people, okay?" the bell rang and everyone in the cafeteria started gathering their things.

"Listen, meet me out front after school. I'll walk you home," Eli told her. Ellie nodded before leaving the cafeteria.

* * *

School had let out nearly ten minutes ago and Ellie was still waiting outside for her brother. She pushed her hair behind her ear and looked around. A few girls passed her but Eli was nowhere in sight. Ellie looked at her communicator to make sure that she hadn't missed Eli trying to get a hold of her. She jumped out of her skin when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa, sorry Ellie, didn't mean to scare you," Eli laughed. Ellie scowled at him.

"Don't ever do that again!" she yelled. "What took you so long anyway?"

"I had trouble with my locker." Ellie nodded in understanding.

Eli threw his backpack over his right shoulder and shoved his hand into the pocket of his jeans. Ellie held onto her backpack straps as she walked next to him. She was happy to finally be spending some time with him.

"So, what can all of your friends do?" Ellie asked.

"Well, they can do a bunch of things. Kitty can phase through anything, Kurt can teleport, and Evan can grow huge spikes out of his body. Scott shoots this insane laser from his eyes, Jean is a telepath, and Rogue can steal anyone's powers just by touching them," Eli told her.

"Well be sure not to get too close to her." Eli laughed at this.

"It's really nice being around so many other mutants. I never realized how many powers there actually were. There's a girl who can transform into a wolf, and another girl who shoots fireworks from her hands."

"That sounds like a pretty useless power."

"I suppose. Oh! A girl named Amara has a power similar to you actually. Her whole body turns into lava though. One of the professor's named Ororo can fly and control the weather too which is kind of similar to you. Minus the weather part I mean." Ellie sighed.

"What do they think that you can do Eli?" They both stopped walking.

"Well, everyone just thinks I control water. I even got a nickname El. They call me Hydro, kinda like hydropower. I'm thinking about telling them about my real power though." Ellie frowned.

"Eli, I know you're making friends and all but can you really trust them with that information? Honestly, I'm a bit shocked that you told them about your modified power instead of your original power, but still. What if Xavier wants to send you back to HYDRA?" Eli rubbed his neck.

"I said I was only thinking about it. Don't worry, I'll talk it over with you first." A red convertible pulled up to the twins.

"Hydro, get in! We have a Danger Room session in half an hour," Scott, who was driving, yelled. Eli and Ellie exchanged glances.

"Sure thing Cyclops. Hey, can we drive Ellie home first?" Eli asked. Scott frowned.

"There's only room for one, sorry," he replied. Eli turned to his sister.

"It's fine," she told him. "I'll walk, it's good for the body anyway." Eli gave his sister a small smile before nodding.

Ellie smiled back at him as he climbed into Scott's car. Her smile faded as the car sped off and she continued to walk home. Her sneakers scuffed against the cracked ground as she walked alone. Ellie narrowed her eyes as she looked to the sky. The sun was a bright red hue and hung halfway into the sky, ready to fall for the night. She knew that if she continued at this pace that it would be sunset by the time she got home. Ellie started to pick up her pace when someone stopped her.

"Where's your bodyguard, blondie?" Duncan Matthews yelled as he walked behind Ellie. Ellie glanced over her shoulder to see that he had two other boys with him.

"Why don't you go bother someone else?" she yelled as she continued walking. Her heart started to beat faster as she heard them running.

Before Ellie knew it, the three boys had her surrounded. She tried to weigh her options, and she knew that she could easily take them on with her powers, but she had to keep being a mutant a secret, so that was out the window. Her only other option was to run, so that's what she tried to do.

"Don't think so!" Duncan laughed as he grabbed her and pushed her back. Another boy ripped her backpack from her back and threw it to the ground. Ellie gritted her teeth together.

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Toad had just made his way into the living room where Fred and Lance were watching television when he caught site of the fight through the window. The greasy boy jumped over to the window and furrowed his brow together. His eyes widened as he watched one boy push Ellie forward and another push her backward.

"Hey, ain't that the girl you're friends with Blob?" he asked, his index finger pressed against the glass of the window. Fred furrowed his brow before going to the window. Lance joined.

The boys stood quietly as they watched Duncan Matthews shove Ellie to the ground. Lance could feel his heart racing as he watched the scene unfold and he looked to Fred. His face had turned red and his fists were balled at his sides. Pietro entered the living room to see his housemates in this position.

"What are you goons gawking at?" he asked as he approached the window. He stopped dead in his tracks as he watched Ellie fall to the ground, a group of boys standing over her.

Without saying anything, Fred stormed out of the living room, tore open the front door and headed for the street. Lance and Toad exchanged an awkward glance before looking to Pietro.

"Alright! Time to party!" Toad yelled as he hopped out of the room in pursuit of Blob. Lance and Pietro hesitated.

"If we help her, her brother would owe us," Lance pointed out. Pietro nodded.

"Then let's go," he replied before the two ran out of the room.

* * *

"Now say that you're sorry for getting in my way all day," Duncan told Ellie as she got off the ground. She replied by flipping him off and he grabbed her by her shirt.

As he hoisted her up, Ellie kicked the air, struggling to pull out of his grip. The thin material of her t-shirt was starting to rip under his hands and she grabbed onto his wrists. Her attention was redirected at the sound of a yell.

"Let her go!" Fred yelled as he slowly ran toward the boys. Duncan smirked before tossing Ellie to the ground once more.

"What are you gonna do if I don't?" Duncan taunted the large boy. Ellie pushed herself onto her hands and knees.

"You just did you goon," she pointed out as she wiped her bleeding lip with the back of her hand. Duncan nodded at the boy nearest to her.

With a swift kick to the ribs, Ellie fell to the ground once more. The four boys of The Brotherhood were now in the street and they were not happy. Fred charged at Duncan but due to his slow start Duncan easily dodged him. He didn't dodge Toad's leaping kick to the gut however. The blond boy gripped his stomach before looking up to see Pietro's cold eyes.

"You picking on girls, Matthews?" he asked. Duncan coughed before answering.

"Why do you care loser?" he asked. Pietro smirked.

"I have a real problem when a guy attacks a girl," he told him before round-house kicking him in the face. Ellie groaned before looking around.

She wasn't sure why these boys weren't using their powers. Granted, she had no idea what their powers were, but with nicknames like Avalanche and Quicksilver, she assumed they were able to inflict more damage than simply punches. These boys were familiar with the X-Men, so why were they holding back? That's when it hit her. Duncan and his friends were just simple teenagers and maybe they didn't know about mutants.

One of the boys rushed Lance but he quickly threw him over his shoulder and slammed him into the pavement below. Pietro gave him a thumbs up before elbowing Duncan in the face. Blob grabbed the other boy by his arm and hoisted him into the air. Toad jumped up and down, egging him on, and Blob threw the boy into the street. Two of the boys ran off in retreat and Duncan stood up, his hand cradling his stomach.

"This isn't over!" he yelled before running toward Ellie. Duncan jumped over her, his knee slamming into her forehead, and he took off. Ellie had been knocked out cold.

"Oh crap!" Toad yelled before leaping over to her. Blob approached her slowly, fearing for the worst.

"She's still breathing," Lance told the boys as he held his ear above her head. Blob exhaled in relief and Pietro kneeled down beside her.

He scooped his hands beneath her knees and under her shoulders, lifting her slowly from the ground. He positioned his arm so her head and neck were secure until he could position her more comfortably. He stood up with Ellie resting in his arms, her head now resting against the crook of his neck. He slowly walked back toward the house.

"Watch her head man," Lance warned as he followed Pietro.

"I know what I'm doing," Pietro replied as he entered the house. The three boys followed him into the living room.

Pietro gently placed her onto the couch and kneeled next to her. Blob stood over her, looking down at her bruised and bleeding face. Toad and Lance stood at the opposite end of the couch as they examined her. Her hair had bits of gravel matted into it, her bottom lip was bleeding, her forehead was bruised, and she had a cut above her left eyebrow. Pietro zoomed out of the room and returned with peroxide, cotton balls and bandages.

"What are you doin' Pietro?" Blob asked. Pietro poured peroxide onto a cotton ball.

"If she isn't cleaned up her wounds will become infected," he explained before dapping the small piece of fluff onto her cut above her eyebrow.

Blood soaked the cotton ball and Ellie's fresh wound bubbled up. Pietro lightly blew on it, causing the bubbling to go down a bit. He continued to disinfect and bandage her wounds as his housemates watched in disbelief.

"I had no idea Pietro could be kind," Toad whispered to Lance who nodded, just as shocked. Pietro pushed Elie's t-shirt up, exposing her bruised ribs.

"Hey, watch what you're doin'," A red-faced Blob warned as he looked away. Pietro scoffed as he began wrapping a bandage around Ellie's torso.

As he was pinning the bandage together, Ellie started to open her eyes. She caught a hazy glimpse of people standing over her and she instantly reacted. Pietro fell back onto the floor and the other boys starred at Ellie in disbelief. She had pushed herself into the air above them and starred at them while she hovered there. Her eyes finally adjusted and she recognized the faces of the boys around her.

Her heart skipped a beat as she looked down, realizing she had just used her original power. To make matters worse, she used it in front of The Brotherhood. Afraid and confused, Ellie zoomed through the air and out of the house. Pietro shook his head and ran to the door using his super speed. He stood with his mouth open as he watched her fly through the air as fast as he could run. The other three boys joined him in the doorway but Ellie was out of sight now. Pietro turned to his housemates.

"Boys," he started. "I think little Miss Ellie has some explaining to do."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the wait on this. I see a few more people are reading now, so a big thank you to them =] I hope you're enjoying it and I appreciate you reading/reviewing!


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

_**The X-Mansion**_

The new recruits were in an intense danger session with the X-Men and Eli couldn't seem to get his head into his current situation. He stood in the middle of the fake battle scene while his peers were zooming past him, powers flying everywhere, trying to pull himself from his own mind. Eli looked down at his hands that were shaking uncontrollably.

"Hydro watch out!" Bobby screamed as he placed a large sheet of ice in front of him. Eli fell back onto the ground as a large metal ball crashed into the ice.

"Like, get your head in the game!" Kitty yelled as she phased him through the ball as it crashed through their bodies. Eli scowled, angry with himself.

"I'm sorry, I'm distracted!" he yelled as he ran into the battlefield. Eli slammed his back against a wall, hiding from any possible danger.

"Bad move kid," Wolverine said as he jumped down from the top of the wall. He drew his claws as he fell from above.

Eli jumped out of his way and Wolverine landed on his feet. Eli scooted his body away from his hot-headed professor but he was too slow. Wolverine took a swing at the boy, his claws going straight through Eli's arm that was now water. Wolverine gave him a confused look and Eli smiled before running away from him.

"_**Storm****, stop the session,"**_ Xavier telepathically told her. Storm shut down the simulation and everyone gathered in the middle of the Danger Room as he wheeled himself in.

"What's goin' on Charles?" Wolverine asked, his arms folded over his large chest.

"I'm afraid I need to speak with Eli. Wolverine I need your assistance as well. Please, will you come with me?" Charles wheeled himself out of the room and the two followed him. The three stopped in Charles' office.

"Is this about my performance today?" Eli nervously asked as he rubbed his neck. Wolverine scoffed.

"What performance?" he added. Charles shook his head.

"It's about your sister, Eli," Xavier explained. Eli's eyes widened.

"What? What's wrong with Ellie?" Eli asked anxiously.

"I hope nothing. Eli, it seems that you and your sister have not been completely honest with me." Wolverine snarled.

"Is that so?" he asked as he eyed Eli. "Well Charles you made the right decision bringing me with you. I'll make him talk." Wolverine's claws popped out of his hands but Eli ignored him.

"That is not necessary Logan," Charles announced. "Eli, while I was using Cerebro today I picked up on a mutant reading here in Bayville. I was surprised to discover that it had come from your sister. Why didn't you tell me about Ellie?" Eli rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's a long story Professor X," Eli started. "I would rather have Ellie explain it to you." Xavier nodded.

"That is fine. Now, I need the two of you to go and pick Ellie up. I need to express my sincerest apologies to her for leaving her behind." Wolverine groaned.

"Fine. C'mon water boy," Wolverine ordered as he exited the room. Eli scowled as he followed after him.

"My name is Hydro, Logan," he corrected as he followed him to the garage. The two climbed into the X-van before leaving the mansion.

"Charles," Storm said as she entered the room. "Is everything alright?"

"I hope so Ororo," he replied before tapping his fingertips to his chin. "I sure hope so."

* * *

Ellie sat curled up into a tight ball in the corner of her bedroom. She pulled her hair back as she let out a pained scream. Steam poured out of her eyes, replacing the tears that she longed for. Her arms and hands were burning inside her skin and she was unable to catch her breath. She tried to force air into her lungs by using her power but like many times before it did not work.

Ellie quickly ran to the dresser that she was using and ripped the drawers open. She threw her few articles of clothing to the floor and pulled each draw out, wheezing as she did so. Frightened, she dropped the last, empty drawer to the ground and grabbed her throat. Ellie suffered from severe asthma attacks due to her under-developed lungs. She was looking for her inhaler but was unable to find it.

Her eyes widened as she started to panic when she remembered that her inhaler was in her back pack. Her back pack had been ripped from her back during the fight earlier and she must have left it in the street. Her vision started to grow blurry and she fell onto the floor. Seconds later, her bedroom door burst open and Eli fell to her side. He lifted her into his arms and placed an inhaler into her mouth. He pushed the inhaler and Ellie could feel the air entering her lungs. Eli always made sure to carry an extra inhaler with him in case Ellie didn't have hers.

"You're okay," Eli told his sister calmly. "You're fine. I'm here now." Eli gave her one more shot off the inhaler before placing his ear to her chest.

"You know what you're doin' kid?" Wolverine asked from the doorway. Eli ignored him.

"Come on El, it's just an asthma attack. You've had plenty of 'em and I know you can pull through." Ellie's sight had returned but breathing was still difficult.

"Eli?" Ellie asked quietly. Eli smiled down at her.

"That's right," he replied. "I'm here." Ellie sat up slowly as she focused on her breathing.

"Who's the guy?" Ellie asked, pointing to Wolverine. Wolverine scoffed.

"Names Wolverine, blondie," he replied. Ellie scowled at him.

"Nice Halloween costume." Eli laughed at Ellie's comment as Wolverine and Ellie glared at each other.

"He's also Professor Logan. He's pretty cool," Eli explained. Wolverine leaned against the door frame.

"Whatever," Ellie replied. "So why are you two here?"

"We're here to take you to the Institute. Professor X caught onto your power earlier and- wait, Ellie what happened to your face?" Eli grabbed her face in his hands and looked her over. He had just noticed her bruised cheek, black eye and fat lip.

"What happened?" Eli angrily asked, his friendly eyes now cold. Ellie pulled away from him.

"Nothing that won't heal," she answered before standing up. Eli did the same.

"I don't care if it will heal, I want to know what the hell happened!" Wolverine approached them now.

"Watch that mouth of yours, water boy," he directed. "Now, blondie, do you wanna explain to me why you reek of Quicksilver?" Eli's eyes widened.

"The Brotherhood attacked you? I'll kill them, I swear I'll kill them all!" he yelled.

"Calm down, calm down," Wolverine demanded. "No sense in makin' accusations. Besides, the only useful thing that you could do to the Brotherhood is change into your water form and run right into that little green one. You'd be doin' the whole city a favor."

"The Brotherhood didn't do this," Ellie explained. "I was jumped by three guys and they actually helped me."

"Well that sure don't sound like the Brotherhood, but that answers my question. Now, will the two of you get into the X-van?" Wolverine asked, annoyed. Ellie looked to her brother.

"It's okay Ellie, you don't need to be afraid," he told her. Ellie scoffed before walking toward the door.

"I'm not afraid," she told him angrily before grabbing a few articles of clothing in her arms.

"Good then let's go," Wolverine told the two as he left the room.

"Lead the way impatient Ida," Ellie yelled to Wolverine. Eli laughed.

"See, I knew you would like each other," he said before following after them.

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Pietro grabbed the overflowing trash bag from the can with his nose wrinkled and tied it shut. He walked outside and threw it into the outdoor can when he noticed a back pack lying on the edge of the lawn. Pietro looked around before snatching it up and returning inside. He made his way to his bedroom and shut himself in. Without a second thought, he emptied the bag onto his bed.

As he sifted through the items, he found a small black book. Curious, he opened the book and flipped through the pages. He stopped when he noticed a page had today's date written at the top. He began to read the loopy cursive to himself.

"I'm not so sure that I like Bayville," he started reading. "The classes I'm enrolled in at Bayville High are mediocre at best and my peers are either obnoxious or ignorant. I was lucky enough to meet one kind boy this morning named Fred Dukes. Turns out he's a mutant too but I'm not sure what his power is. Eli's new X-Men friends don't seem to like him or his friends too much. Which reminds me, I haven't mentioned silver-haired Pietro yet." Toad burst into the room and Pietro dropped the book onto his bed.

"Yo Pietro where's the-…are those tampons on your bed?" he asked loudly as he noticed the random items scattered on his bed. Pietro stood up angrily and grabbed Toad by his shirt.

"Get outta here Toad!" he yelled before pushing him out of his room and slamming the door in his face.

"You really should lock your door if you're experimenting man," Toad yelled through the door before leaping down the hall. Pietro returned his attention to the book.

"Pietro is a boy that I sit by in Advanced English who is also a mutant. Kitty mentioned the codename Quicksilver, so I'm assuming that's his. Anyway, this kid is a real pain in the ass," Pietro wrinkled his nose before reading again. "He's the reason I have detention tomorrow and he's rude. I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I think its okay to judge an open book." Pietro angrily closed the book.

"_Who is she calling an open book?"_ he thought to himself. "_I'm a really deep guy! Oh gross, those are tampons."_ Pietro pushed the items back into Ellie's back pack before climbing into bed himself.

He placed his arms behind his head and crossed his legs over each other. The scowl on his face faded slowly as he replayed the fight from earlier in his mind. The only reason he helped Ellie was to have a reason to make Eli join the Brotherhood, but now he was in a jam himself. He had no idea what power Eli had but it appeared that Ellie could fly, and she was fast. _Really_ fast.

Pietro starred blankly at his white ceiling as he thought to himself. There was most likely no way that he could convince both of them to join the team, but he needed to know which one was going to be the most beneficial to his team. Mystique was still missing and he was responsible for this dysfunctional family of teenage boys now. When his thoughts became to much, he forced himself to try and sleep. Eventually, it worked.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

_**The X-Mansion**_

Ellie sat in Charles Xavier's office nervously biting her thumbnail as the professors all starred at her. Eli was sitting next to her, rocking from side to side out of boredom. He stretched his arms over his head and let out a loud yawn. Charles Xavier wheeled himself into the room.

"Hello Ellie," he said with a smile. "It's so nice to see you again."

"Right," Ellie replied. Eli nudged her in the arm and she rolled her eyes.

"I want to apologize to you, Ellie. Had I known that you also carried the X-gene I would have extended my hand to you as well." Ellie remained quiet.

"I am curious though, about why you did not tell me yourself?" Ellie shrugged.

"C'mon El, I told them you would give them an explanation," Eli whispered. Ellie thought to herself for a moment.

"You want the truth? Fine," she started. "Our parents tossed us out of the house a while back. They were freaked out by our abilities and we had to fend for ourselves. We've been moving from town to town ever since." Eli glanced at Ellie, aware of her lie.

"You poor children," Ororo said sadly with her hand over her heart. Wolverine even looked a bit unhappy.

"Well you both are welcome here," Charles told them. "Ellie, would you care to show us what your power is?" Ellie hesitated at first but stood up from her seat.

She took a deep breath and shot herself into the air, hovering above everyone. Ororo smiled up at her and Logan crossed his arms. Ellie flew across the room at lightening speed and Charles opened his mouth, a bit surprised. Ellie dropped back to the floor and continued to bite her thumbnail.

"Fascinating!" Charles exclaimed. "So not only are you an air elemental, but you are part of the speedster variety as well."

"You mean like Quicksilver?" Logan asked. Charles nodded and Ellie covered her bandaged torso with her arms.

She had almost forgot that someone in the Brotherhood had cleaned her up after the fight. She remembered Pietro being the only one bent down near hear when she woke up, so it must have been him. Ellie blushed as she thought of him seeing her bare stomach.

"So we have a water boy and a fairy now," Logan commented. Eli and Ellie scowled at him.

"Mister Logan, c'mon man!" Eli whined.

"I'm not a fairy," Ellie shot back.

"No, I suppose you aren't now are ya' blondie?" Logan said. "You're more of an imp." Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Actually, that is a very good codename for you Ellie," Charles inserted. "Would you like to join the X-Men?" Ellie looked to Eli.

In all honesty Ellie just wanted to be left alone. Of course that was impossible now that she had so stupidly used her power. The only reason she nodded her head was because Eli was here with her. Ororo smiled.

"Come then, you should meet your new family," she said as she placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder. Ellie looked up at her.

"My codename is Storm. If you ever need someone to just shoot the breeze with you can come to me anytime." Storm winked and Ellie smiled at her.

The small group walked into the main living room where the X-Men team and new recruits were waiting. Ellie looked around at the large group of teenagers. Kitty was the first to approach them.

"Ellie are you okay?" she asked, concerned. "When we saw you come in here we all got together to make sure you were okay." Ellie nodded at her.

"I'm fine," Ellie told her. Kitty was one person that Ellie genuinely liked in Bayville for some odd reason.

"I have a message for you all," Charles announced. "Ellie is going to be joining us here at the institute. She carries the X-gene like the rest of you."

"What?" Rogue asked. "But you told us you didn't have powers at school!" Ellie shrugged.

"I lied," she told her, simply and honestly. Everyone exchanged confused glances.

"What can you do?" Bobby asked as he stepped forward. Ellie tried to ignore the awkward grin that he was giving her.

Ellie flew into the air once again. Many of the students started saying "wow" and "cool" which boosted Ellie's ego a bit. She used her speed to fly through the air, causing a huge gust to blow over everyone below. A few moments later she landed on the ground with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing too special," she said with a smirk. Bobby crossed his arms and smiled at her.

"Uh-oh, do you see that look Bobby has?" Rahne whispered to Kurt. He nodded.

"Uh-oh is right," Kurt replied.

"I will be placing Ellie on the new recruit team for now," Charles informed the group. "You will all know her by the codename Imp." Kurt smiled before teleporting to Ellie's side.

Ellie jumped back a bit when he popped up next to her. She hadn't noticed him yet, but his physical features startled her a bit. She furrowed her brow as she looked at him for a moment.

"Kurt?" she asked. He nodded.

"Wow. You look different."

"Yeah, this is how I was born," Kurt explained. "I look different at school for obvious reasons." Ellie nodded.

"I'm liking the ears though," Ellie told him. Kurt smiled.

"Alright, time for bed everyone. It's late and you have school tomorrow," Logan announced. The students groaned.

"Aw Mister Logan," Ray whined.

"Okay then, if you all are so bent on staying up, then we can run a danger room session." Everyone made an excuse to go to bed now. Logan smiled as he got what he wanted.

"Ellie, you will be rooming with Amara and Tabitha," Charles explained as he pointed them out. Two girls approached Ellie.

"Awesome, a new roomie!" Tabitha said. Ellie looked her up and down.

The two girls headed for their bedroom and Ellie followed. She was unsure about how this was going to play out. Eventually the Professor was going to catch on to her modified power. Ellie ran her fingers through her hair as she walked up the stairs of the mansion. For now she just had to keep her cool and stay under the radar. She followed Amara and Tabitha into their bedroom and got changed before going to sleep.

* * *

_**Bayville High**_

Pietro was the first person to show up to his first period class today. He sat at his desk, his knees bouncing as he waited for Ellie to arrive. His eyes shifted around at the empty seats surrounding him and he groaned to himself. Pietro was very impatient and waiting this long was making him anxious. His eyes darted to the door as Ellie entered.

She looked around at the empty desks and smiled to herself. Pietro grinned as her blue eyes landed on him. Ellie's nose wrinkled at the sight of him and she scoffed. With a roll of her eyes she took her seat next to him. Pietro examined her face, her black eye and scabbed lip looked worse than when she had received them but the bandages that he had placed on her were still in place.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked as he turned toward her in his seat. Ellie remained facing forward without answering him.

"You know you could thank me at least," Pietro told her, annoyed. "I did save your life after all." Ellie smirked.

"My life was not in danger," she replied, still looking forward. "You just got involved in my business that did not concern you." Pietro narrowed his eyes.

"Boy you're a real piece of work! I could have just let Duncan and his boys pound you into dust yesterday you know." Ellie snapped her head toward him now.

"Then why didn't you?" Pietro leaned back in his seat a bit, unsure of what to say. In hindsight he wasn't really sure why he bandaged her up after helping her.

"I dunno," he replied snottily. "But you owe me now." Ellie raised an eyebrow at him.

"I don't owe you anything."

"Oh but you do. You see, it's an eye for an eye kid, and I want my cut."

"Again, I don't owe you anything. You were the one who stuck your nose in my business. I could have handled Duncan and his goons."

"Right, you could take on three football players at once."

"It doesn't matter if I could fight them. It only matters if I can or can't out run them." Pietro raised his eyebrow at her.

"You couldn't outrun them," he told her. "See, _I_ could outrun them, you could only out-_fly_ them." Ellie straightened up in her seat.

"Shut up."

"What? Are you embarrassed?" Pietro smirked at her.

"I said shut up Pietro," Ellie ordered through clenched teeth. Her arms started to burn under her skin.

"Nope. I know your little secret Ellie." Ellie balled her hands into fists on top of her desk. Pietro was getting to her and she was fighting to control her temper.

"What will make you shut up?"

"Agree to meet me after school to discuss becoming a part of the Brotherhood." Ellie's eyes widened.

"What?"

"You heard me. I want either you or your brother on my team. You do owe me."

"I told you that I don't owe you! And I have detention after school today anyway thanks to you." Pietro rubbed his pointed chin. Both of the teenagers looked to the door as their teacher walked in.

"Oh Mrs. Graines," Pietro called with a smirk on his face. Ellie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, Pietro?" Mrs. Graines asked from the front of the room. Pietro glanced at Ellie before grinning to himself.

"You look like total shit today." Ellie and Mrs. Graines gave him shocked looks.

"Pietro Maximoff! You just earned yourself detention after school!" Pietro shrugged before looking back at Ellie.

"Then I'll see you there," he told her with a wink. Ellie groaned before resting her head on her desk.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

_**Bayville High (Lunch)**_

Eli had waited for his sister after class so he could walk her to lunch. She still seemed to be adjusting to the students at Bayville seeing as how she kept eyeing anyone that passed them. As Eli examined her bruised face he frowned to himself. He could not help but feel a twinge of guilt in his gut. Maybe if he had walked her home then she would be perfectly fine. Then again, if he had walked her home then she most likely would not have used her powers and she would still be living at the vacation home.

His mind was filled with thoughts of their childhood together. Ellie was not always the guarded, on edge individual that she was now. There was a time where she would laugh about almost everything and she was practically fearless. After their parents betrayed them by treating them like experiment's rather than children, Ellie changed. She was no longer the happy little girl that Eli remembered her to be. Knowing this he should have listened to her when they had arrived in Bayville. Eli scolded himself on a daily basis for using his powers when Ellie had told him not to. She was only looking out for his well being and he turned around and did it anyway. It hurt his heart to think about it.

The anger and eagerness in her eyes the other day in the cafeteria frightened him. He was not afraid of Ellie per-say, but he was afraid that she was actually becoming the person that he hoped she was pretending to be. Eli still held out hope that one day Ellie would be the way that he remembered her. The _real_ her. He was pulled from his thoughts when her hand touched his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked, concern clear in her tone.

"Absolutely," Eli replied with a forced smile. They both took seats at the X-Men's regular table. Scott nodded to the both of them.

"Hey Scott," Eli said with a nod in return. He couldn't help but notice that the table was missing a few people today.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Well, Jean is with Duncan unfortunately," Scott started, catching Ellie's attention. "Bobby is catching up on homework in the library and Evan is out skateboarding."

"Did you say that Jean was with Duncan?" Ellie asked. Her brother eyed her curiously as Scott nodded.

"Duncan Matthews?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rogue added. "They are a couple you know." Ellie stiffened in her seat.

"Is there something wrong?" Eli asked his sister. Ellie shook her head from side to side.

She was not going to tell Eli that Duncan and his friends were the ones who attacked her the other day. Although Eli was a sweet and kind person she was unsure of what he could potentially do. Brothers tend to be very protective of their sisters but in the case of the Dingo twins it appeared to be the opposite way around. Ellie was always protecting her brother from potential harm which was a tiring task.

Ellie's attempt to keep the incident with Duncan a secret was about to be tested. Jean entered the cafeteria with an angry look on her face and Duncan was trailing behind her. As the two approached the table where the X-Men were sitting, Ellie forced herself to remain calm.

"Go ahead," Jean angrily said to Duncan. "Apologize to her." Duncan and Ellie locked eyes.

"Jean, what's going on?" Scott asked as he stood up from his seat.

"Why does he need to apologize to my sister?" Eli asked, confused.

"It's fine," Ellie told Jean calmly. "He doesn't need to apologize."

"Yes he does Ellie. What he did is unacceptable," Jean replied.

"What exactly did he do that was so unacceptable?" Eli asked.

"It's not a big deal," Ellie explained. "The other morning Duncan accidentally bumped into me in the hallway. I cut my ear on a locker, but I'm fine. No harm done and no hard feelings." Jean studied Ellie hard, knowing that she was referring to the wrong incident on purpose.

Ellie left her seat and pulled Jean away from the table. Duncan followed them, curious and confused about what was going on.

"Okay, I'll level with you," Ellie started. "I don't want Eli knowing about this. Duncan was in the wrong but I lost my temper as well. When it comes to deciding between a fight or flight response I don't always make the best choice."

"But it is not okay that he and his friends attacked you for no reason," Jean explained.

"He had a reason. I was the one who pushed him to fight with me. I could have walked away when he bumped into me in the hallway but I didn't. You know I could have easily walked away from that fight without anyone getting harmed. I was just too stubborn to do it." Duncan rubbed the back of his neck.

"It wasn't entirely your fault," he added. "I have a tendency to do things to impress my friends. I didn't plan to hurt you that bad, honest. I was just gonna shove you around a bit until you got the point." Ellie rolled her eyes.

"You're so immature Duncan. Look at her! She's just a young girl and she is a mess because you feel the need to impress your friends," Jean pointed out.

"Yeah, I know that Jean. Everything got a little too intense once those losers showed up though. We were going to leave but they decided to play heroes and I lost control."

"You're not the only one," Ellie told him. "I'm never going to like you, Duncan. So don't you think for one second that by giving me some half assed apology that everything will be fine between you and I. I will not be your friend. However, I will not acknowledge you or anything that you have done to me as long as you promise to do the same."

"Fine. I apologize," Duncan said as he extended his hand to Ellie. She pushed it away before nodding.

"I'm afraid that I don't understand," Jean said.

"You don't need to understand this Jean. You just need to keep it to yourself," Ellie told her before returning to her seat.

"Everything alright?" Eli asked. Ellie nodded and he believed her.

Jean took a seat next to Scott after giving him a smile to assure him that everything was fine. Duncan took off after the three had their discussion and Ellie was a bit more relaxed. Eli was oblivious to the truth, Duncan was going to leave her be, and nobody seemed to expect a thing. Ellie leaned back in her seat before her backpack was dropped onto the table in front of her. Her head snapped up to see Fred.

"You forgot this," he told her nervously as he looked around at the X-Men. Ellie smiled at him.

"Thank you Fred. Now I can actually take notes in class," she replied.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Blob?" Scott asked unhappily. Fred narrowed his eyes at him.

"Whatever, I'm outta here." Ellie sent a glare toward Scott before going after Fred.

"Hey, thanks a lot for bringing it back to me Fred." The large boy shrugged.

"Could you do me a favor Fred?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Tell the boys to keep quiet about who attacked me yesterday."

"What? Why?"

"If you tell them and they agree to do that, I might decide to join the Brotherhood." Fred's eyes widened.

"Well, uh…sure I'll tell 'em."

"Thanks Fred." The bell to return to class rang and Ellie went to get her backpack.

Fred scratched his head, confused as to why Ellie wanted the Brotherhood to keep quiet about Duncan and his friends. Either way he told her that he would let the others know, so he made his way back to their table and did just that. Todd and Lance didn't seem to care and agreed to keep the secret, but Pietro seemed curious.

"I'm not agreeing to anything," he told his large housemate. "That girl already owes us one for saving her from getting pummeled. I'm not doing her any favors until she pays up."

"She said that she might think about joinin' the Brotherhood," Blob explained. Pietro perked up a bit.

"Is that so? Well then, I'll keep her secret for now I suppose." The four boys left their table and entered the busy hallway.

"You think Mystique would be cool with a chick livin' with us?" Todd asked.

"Aw she ain't comin' back Toad," Lance explained with a scrunched up nose. "If she was gonna come back she'd a done it by now."

"What if Ellie does join our team?" Blob asked.

"Then we are up by one and the X-Men are down by one. Now, excuse me while I go to class and think about how I'm going to convince her to join us." Pietro left his group of friends and the three boys looked to one another.

"You know, I'm not so sure about this," Toad said.

"Yeah me either. I don't think we should be dealing with the X-Men's recruits," Lance admitted.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "Ellie's nice and all that but I don't think I like the way Pietro is blackmailing her."

"Right. We did decide to help her on our own so she doesn't really need to repay us," Lance added. The boys broke apart as the bell rang and Principal Kelly entered the hallway.

Although the boys were not completely on board with Pietro's plan to persuade one if not both of the Dingo twins to join their team, none of them were going to confront him about it. Lance was concerned about Kitty's reaction to the plan, Fred did not want to lose Ellie as a friend if the plan went awry, and Toad was just uncomfortable with the idea of living with a female. Pietro was the man in charge right now and that was the way that it was going to stay.

* * *

A/N: Hey there. I meant to post this last night but unfortunately I lost internet access right as I was getting ready to upload. Annoying I know. Thanks to everyone reviewing though! I hope this chapter clears up a few things and makes certain plot lines more understandable now. Also, I really don't hate Duncan as this chapter shows. I just think he's a show off. Again, thank you to everyone who is reviewing and thank you to everyone for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10**_

_**Bayville High (After final period)**_

Ellie's backpack rested over her shoulders as she walked through the halls of Bayville High. The heels of her sneakers scrapped the ground as she unhappily headed for her first period class for detention. As she started down the stairs she tied her hair into a ponytail, a few stray pieces framing her face as she did so.

"Ellie wait up!" Evan yelled as he ran down the stairs to catch up to her. Ellie stood at the bottom of the stairs with an eyebrow raised at him.

"Yes?" she asked him once he was by her.

"I wanted to see if you want to ride home with me and some of the guys." Ellie looked Evan over for a moment.

He was a little taller than she was but not by much. Evan had not made much of an attempt to get to know her yet which made her like him. Unlike her brother who was eager to befriend anyone who spoke to him, Ellie tried to stay clear of anyone who asked too many questions. When you are keeping a big secret the way that she was it was how you had to act.

"No thanks," Ellie told him. "I have detention." Evan raised his eyebrows at her.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really. I didn't really get off on the right foot with Mrs. Graines and I'm paying for it now."

"Well okay, but the Professor is gonna be so mad at you." Ellie shrugged.

"Yeah I know. I have to get going now though so maybe I'll catch a ride next time." Evan nodded before running down the hallway to catch his ride.

Ellie watched as Evan disappeared through the doors with a small smile on her face. After leaving HYDRA she had figured that she was never going to have an opportunity to make any friends other than her brother. Her smile faded as she thought of HYDRA once again. Although she had not been physically harmed by any of the scientists she was left with many emotional wounds.

It made sense to her that scientists would be intrigued by mutants but she did not understand how anyone could experiment on a child. Although the situation was unfortunate, she was glad that Eli was the first to be modified. His additional power had been accepted into his body without any complications meaning that the experiment was a success and Eli was no longer needed as a test subject.

Ellie pulled herself out of the thoughts from her past and made her way to homeroom. She sighed a sigh of relief when she noticed that Pietro had not arrived yet. Ellie took her seat in the back of the classroom and put her backpack on her desk. She rubbed her temples with her fingertips as if she was going to massage her memories from her mind.

A familiar tingling sensation tickled her arms as she continued to rub her head. Unlike Eli, Ellie's modification did not get completed. She was poked and prodded for days as the scientists, two of which were her parents, tried to fuse the power of fire to her already existing X-gene. The experiment had been interrupted when another mutant escaped from the facility.

Ellie was only allowed to be around Eli in the facility so she was unaware of who the other mutants in captivity were. When the alarms had gone off in the laboratory during one of her treatments she overheard her mother say that X-23 had escaped. Frightened by this news, the scientists dispersed in search of their test subject, leaving Ellie behind. Ellie could feel her skin burning as she continued to remember the events.

Seeing her chance to escape, Ellie had pulled the needles from her skin and ran to her holding room. The door had been locked from the outside and Ellie had no idea where a key would be. It crossed her mind to run but she knew that she could not leave her brother behind. Realizing what she had to do, Ellie focused all of her energy into her arms. Her skin started to itch from her elbows down, and it started to tingle shortly after.

Before she knew it, her arms were covered in fire and she could feel the heat under her now flame covered skin. She grabbed onto the lock of the door and watched as it turned red and start to melt. Once the lock was gone, Ellie pulled her brother from the room and started to run. Ellie jumped in her seat as Pietro touched her shoulder.

"Whoa, what's your problem?" he asked as Ellie looked around frantically, her chest heaving up and down. He watched her quietly as she pulled an inhaler from her backpack and took a hit of air from it.

"Don't you ever do that again," she told him as she focused on her breathing. Pietro raised an eyebrow before sitting next to her.

"You have got to be kidding me. Don't you control wind or something? Why do you have asthma?"

"I control _air_ and asthma is actually really common." Ellie unhappily looked to the front of the room to try and ignore him.

"Well at least I know your weakness now." Ellie looked to him obviously annoyed.

"Do you ever stop talking? Honestly, don't you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?" Pietro smirked at her as Mrs. Graines walked into the room.

"Ah yes," she said as she noticed the two. "My two little troublemakers. You will both be here for half an hour and before you leave you will receive letters to your parents that describe what you have done. I expect them to sign it and you return it tomorrow."

"_A letter to our parents? I thought this was high school not elementary school,"_ Ellie thought to herself.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Graines but I do not live with my parents," Ellie explained.

"That's unfortunate for you." Ellie took a deep breath to maintain her composure.

"I am living at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters at the moment. Would it be alright if my Professor signs it?"

"I suppose that will have to do. Now, both of you be quiet." Pietro leaned back in his chair as he pulled a notebook and pen from his backpack. He scribbled something down and threw the notebook onto Ellie's desk.

Ellie tried to ignore what Pietro had just done but curiosity got the best of her. She glanced down at the notebook and examined his writing.

"_So, you wanna tell me why you pretended to be normal?"_ she read to herself. She hesitated before writing on the page herself and giving him the notebook, a process that became routine quickly.

"_**Not really."**_ Pietro read to himself before writing back.

"_Stop making this so hard. I bandaged you up, kid. Now just answer my questions."_

"_**Whatever. I need to keep a low profile. That means no powers."**_

"_Why do you need to keep a low profile?"_

"_**That's really not your business. All I'm going to say is that I need to watch my back."**_

"_Is your brother in the same situation?"_

"_**Unfortunately yes. Eli is my number one priority and I'm doing everything that I can to keep him safe from anyone who wants to harm him. That includes you."**_

"_Ouch. You're even snarky on paper. If I wanted to harm your brother I would have done it by now. I'm more interested in you at the moment." _

"_**Which is exactly why I don't like you. You are too nosey."**_

"_So call it my only flaw. I could point out all of yours if you'd like."_

"_**Get to the point Pietro."**_

"_I want you to join the Brotherhood. The X-Men do not need anymore members and seeing as how you are staying with them now, I bet you're thinking about joining their team. You could really shine on my team."_

"_**You are really bad at this persuasion thing, you know that? I have agreed to join the X-Men's new recruit team anyway. Charles Xavier has extended his hand to me and I trust him. Unlike you."**_ Pietro scowled after reading this.

"Stop passing that notebook to each other!" Mrs. Graines scolded. "This is detention, not time to pass notes to each other." Pietro slid the notebook back into his backpack before pouting in his seat.

Ellie sat with her chin resting on her hand as Pietro starred her down. He was not going to take no as an answer from her. Knowing that she was going to put up a fight to join the Brotherhood, he made sure to keep some leverage. His eyes darted to his unzipped backpack and landed on a small black book within it. After discovering this book in Ellie's backpack the previous night he discovered that it was full of valuable information. He made sure to slip it into his own bag this morning before giving Ellie's to Fred to return.

Since she turned him down today, he was going to spend his night digging through that book for anything that could convince her to join the Brotherhood. Pietro zipped his backpack shut and grinned to himself.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

Ellie ran her finger tips over her eyebrow as she watched the clock on the wall slowly change. Pietro was still shaking his legs under his desk next to her and Mrs. Graines was sitting behind her desk quietly. Her graying hair was pulled into a tight bun on top of her head and the red pen in her hand scratched across the numerous papers in front of her.

"Miss Dingo," Mrs. Graines said calmly. Ellie raised her eyebrows.

"Yes ma'am?" she asked. Mrs. Graines removed her round eyeglasses and looked to her.

"Would you come up here please?" Ellie glanced at Pietro, who was eyeing her with one eyebrow raised, before she approached her teacher.

"Yes?" she asked again. Mrs. Graines slid a paper near Ellie.

"I have just finished reading your poem from yesterday," Mrs. Graines started. "I will admit that this is the best original work that I have read out of the lot thus far. I feel that it is important for me to give you credit so you may try and turn that attitude of yours around." Pietro chuckled from across the room and the women looked to him.

"Sorry," he said. "Bad cough." He proceeded to fake cough and the women returned to the matter at hand.

"I'm glad you like my work," Ellie replied. "I'm sorry for my actions. I hope that I haven't branded myself as a delinquent." Ellie shot a quick look at Pietro with the last word.

"Everyone is capable of redemption, Miss Dingo," Mrs. Graines replied with a small smile. "The two of you are free to go. I will see you tomorrow."

Ellie smiled to herself as she walked back to her desk to grab her backpack. Her nose crinkled as Pietro held it out to her. She quickly snatched it away from him and threw it over her shoulders.

"You're welcome," Pietro said as he walked across the room and into the hallway. Ellie rolled her eyes as she made her way into the hall as well. She furrowed her eyebrows when she saw Fred standing in the hall as well.

"Fred?" she asked as she approached him. The large boy smiled.

"Hey Ellie!" he said happily with a small wave. Pietro stopped and listened to the two.

"What are you doing here?" Ellie asked.

"Well, Pietro told me that you had detention after school," Fred started. "I just...well, you know. I wanted to check on ya' I guess." Ellie gave him a kind smile and Pietro grimaced.

"That was sweet of you Fred. I'm doing a lot better today."

"That's good."

"It is. Thank you, by the way. For helping me out the other day. I really appreciate it."

"Sure. I mean I wasn't just gonna let someone mess with ya' or nothin'."

"Oh _please_!" Pietro groaned as he stepped between the two. "This public display of heartfelt friendship is going to make me puke. Let's go Blob!" Pietro headed for the main entrance of the school.

"I'll see ya' around or something'," Fred told Ellie before following after his friend.

"Yeah, for sure," she replied as she watched them walk away. Once the two boys had left the school Ellie ran her hand over her forehead, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did so.

As much as she hated to admit it, she really did owe the Brotherhood. It was even a possibility that some of them actually helped her just to be kind. Well, not Pietro of course, but Fred certainly had. Ellie dropped her hand as the red X on her communicator started to glow. She pressed it and lifted her wrist to her lips.

"Yes?" she asked quietly.

"Cool it worked!" Eli screamed making Ellie drop her arm to her side and jump back.

"You don't have to yell!" she yelled back.

"Oh, my bad. Are you going to be okay walking home?" Ellie glared down at her communicator as if she were looking at her brother instead.

"What exactly is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Ellie, you know I didn't mean anything by that."

"Yes you did. Look, I don't need everyone worrying about me, especially you got it?"

"I'll always worry about you. It kinda comes with the whole twin brother thing. I can meet you halfway if you want."

"Goodbye Eli." Ellie pushed her communicator and ended the transmission. The X lit up once more but she ignored it and headed for the entrance of Bayville High.

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Pietro made his way to his bedroom the minute he entered the Brotherhood house after school. He shut himself inside and took a seat at his desk, Ellie's book open in front of him. He flipped to the very first written on page and started to read silently to himself.

"I'm not sure what day it is. I'm not even sure what month it is. It feels like Eli and I have been in the laboratory for years, I just don't know how many. One of the scientists gave me this journal to write my feelings in. I'm ready to go home but I know that's not going to happen. Mom told us that we were going on vacation so long ago but it has become pretty obvious that she lied." Pietro's head shot up from the book when his door opened.

"Whoa, are you studying?" Toad asked as he leaned against the door. Pietro scowled at him.

"None of your business, now get out," he replied, pointing to the hallway. Toad smirked before leaning over the desk a bit.

"Wait a minute, is that a diary?" Toad asked as he saw the writing. Pietro closed the book and swatted at Toad who moved back at the right moment to avoid contact.

"Get outta here Toad!" With his super speed Pietro pushed him into the hall, slammed his door closed and locked it.

"Man! Did you guys know Pietro has a diary!?" Toad laughed as he jumped down the hall. Pietro sat back down and opened the book again.

"Lately they have been separating Eli and myself. When I asked the scientist why I can't stay with him she told me that it was due to a conflict of interest. I'm not even sure what that really means. This room is a lot worse without him here. It's nice to not have to share the pillow and blanket but there is nobody to talk to." Pietro sat back and tapped his fingers on his chin.

"Well this makes no sense," he said to himself with an aggravated sigh. He went back to reading and skipped ahead to something that caught his attention.

"I hate HYDRA. I hate everyone that works here. I hate mom and I hate dad. They finally let me see Eli today. He's not the same as he used to be. He's much taller than he was when we first got here and he's got muscles now. He was always a tiny, scrawny boy, but not anymore. Eli had bandages covering his arms and neck, so naturally I asked what had happened to him. He told me that the scientists have been experimenting on him to make him better."

Pietro took a second and thought to himself. He pictured Eli being the same height and with the same muscle tone that Ellie had. The image of the twins actually resembling one another more made him smirk. Suddenly Eli did not seem so intimidating. Even with this image in his mind the fact that HYDRA was mentioned in this journal concerned him. He continued to read.

"Those monsters gave him a power. He told me that they filled him with needles and tubes and that it hurt like hell. As if this wasn't enough to make me angry, he told me that mom and dad supervised the process and gave the other scientists orders on what to do to him next. Now Eli can turn his body into water the same way that he can control plants."

"Jackpot!" Pietro yelled to himself happily. He had finally found some blackmail for Eli.

Pietro knew he could use this against Eli and could potentially force him to join the Brotherhood. However, he wondered if there was anything in the journal that could be used against Ellie as well. That way, if he found dirt on the both of them, they would both have to join the Brotherhood and the X-Men would be down two recruits instead of one. He smiled at his brilliance and continued to flip through the pages of the journal.

* * *

_**The X Mansion**_

"I will admit that I was concerned when your brother informed me of your detention," Charles Xavier told Ellie as she sat in his office.

After Ellie had arrived at the mansion she was immediately greeted by the Professor. Everyone else was in the middle of a training session in the danger room and he asked to speak with her in private after she changed into her new recruit suit. Initially she was a bit nervous that he had discovered her secret, but the feeling quickly disappeared as he started talking about detention.

"It was a stupid thing to do on my part," Ellie admitted. "I apologized, she accepted it, so that's the end of that."

"Yes well, maybe for Mrs. Graines it is but not for me," Charles replied. "Ellie, I want you to attend a few sessions with Storm after school for a few weeks."

"What kind of sessions?"

"Sessions where you tell Storm your feelings about your life in Bayville and how you are adjusting."

"So she's going to be my shrink then?" Ellie crossed her legs and sat back into the couch a bit.

"Consider her as your mentor. Nobody is trying to make you talk about anything that you don't want to Ellie." She sat quiet for a moment.

"Okay. I'll do it." Charles smiled.

"I'm happy to hear it. Now, go ahead and join the rest of the students in the danger room." Ellie nodded and left the office.

"_Maybe I made a mistake coming here. They are so intense about everything,"_ Ellie thought to herself as she tugged at the neck of her new recruit suit.

She entered the danger room and raised an eyebrow at what she saw. There were no flying metal balls with spikes sticking out of them, or any saws coming out of the walls the way Eli had told her there were when he trained. This room was completely bare except for Rogue standing in the middle of the room. Ellie looked to the right to see all of the new recruit team sitting near the wall and all of the X-Men standing behind them.

"Imp, get on over here!" Scott yelled. Ellie walked over to the group and Eli grabbed onto her shoulder quickly.

The two locked eyes and Ellie knew that something was wrong. She lifted her eyebrow at him and Eli nodded in the direction of Rogue. Ellie examined her closely for a second, her eyes widening as she noticed Rogue wasn't wearing her gloves. Her eyes darted back to her brother's.

"Alright, since everyone is here I'll explain the rules of this exercise," Logan said as he walked into the room.

"You need to be prepared for anything to happen when you're in battle," he explained. "Rogue is going to take your power and you are going to see how well you can react to your own power being used against you. Do I have any volunteers to go first?"

Ellie could feel her heart racing and her breathing become shallow. All of the new recruits sat silent with nervous looks on their faces. It was clear to Ellie that she had made the wrong choice for herself and her brother by coming here and joining this team.

"Water boy, get up here," Logan yelled, volunteering Eli to go first. Ellie's eyes widened as he released her shoulder and started walking toward Rogue.

"Wait!" Ellie yelled causing everyone to turn toward her.

"There a problem blondie?" Logan asked. Eli shook his head at her.

"I'll go first," she said as she walked out toward Rogue. The twins locked eyes for a brief moment but Ellie continued forward.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Rogue asked. Ellie narrowed her eyes.

"Bring it," she shot back. Rogue quickly lunged for her, but Ellie flew above her.

"Hey!" Rogue yelled up at her. "I need your power!" Ellie smirked.

"You want my power? Then you're gonna have to fight me for it!" Suddenly the room turned into a battleground.

Ellie looked around as walls shot up from the ground and other obstacles appeared. She landed on top of a wall and looked around. Rogue had disappeared into the fake forest now, making Ellie uneasy. She squinted to try and find her opponent, making her unaware of the metal ball zooming toward her back.

Ellie had only had a few days of training when she was at HYDRA, so she was still very naive when it came to battle. The metal sphere hit her square in the back, knocking her off the wall. She groaned as she pulled herself off the ground slowly. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of Rogue running toward her.

"I gotcha!" Rogue yelled as she jumped toward the young girl. Ellie jumped to the side, rolling a few feet away from the dangerous girl.

Before she had time to respond, Rogue jumped on top of her. Ellie grabbed her covered wrists and forced them away from her body. Rogue pushed her weight down on Ellie, pinning her to the ground as she fought to touch her face. Ellie pushed against her, but she was much smaller than Rogue. Rogue's bare fingers stretched toward Ellie's face and Ellie tried to turn away from them.

Eli stood with one hand tangled in his blond hair as he watched. He should have volunteered and made Ellie sit back and watch him instead. Eli wanted nothing more than to run out there and throw Rogue off of his sister. His stomach clenched when Ellie screamed and Rogue's hand landed on her face.

Rogue yelled a bit as well before grabbing her forehead. She sat back on top of Ellie's legs and looked at her arms, confused. Ellie stared up at the girl in horror.

"My arm's hurt," Rogue said with her brow furrowed. Ellie was starting to feel dizzy.

Rogue pushed her body up and hovered in the air a few inches above Ellie's body. Rogue screamed as her arms were quickly covered in flames. Everyone instantly started to react. Logan ran toward the two and the other X-Men headed toward the battlefield. Rogue stopped screaming as the flames disappeared and sat back on top of Ellie's legs. The X-Men and Wolverine surrounded them.

"What was that?!" Rogue asked, fear clear in her tone.

"Looks like blondie's got a few secrets we didn't know about," Logan said angrily, his claws shooting out of his hands.

Ellie looked around at all of the shocked and angry faces before pulling her right leg free and kicking Rogue in the stomach. She sent the girl back a few feet and shot herself into the air. Her body trembled uncontrollably as she flew out of the danger room at lightning speed.

"Ellie wait!" Eli screamed as he ran to the now open door. By the time he reached it she was nowhere in sight.

* * *

A/N: So sorry for the delay. I'm actually returning to college for my junior year and I literally have no down time lately. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. I'll post the next soon!


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12**_

Seconds ago Ellie had flown out of the danger room and into the bedroom where she was staying. She grabbed her backpack, strapped it to her back, and leaped into the air once more. She could hear the others running into the hall as she pushed open the balcony doors of the bedroom. As she hovered out onto the balcony her heart jumped as Kurt teleported in front of her.

"Ellie, where are you going?" he asked her with what sounded like a concerned tone.

"This was a mistake," Ellie replied quickly. "I should have never come here."

"Of course you should have! You are a mutant and this is where you belong." Ellie shook her head at him.

"I'm different Kurt."

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm blue. Your differences don't change who you are. Please, just stay." The two turned their heads as Kitty ran through the wall.

"Ellie! Like, what was that?" she yelled as she ran to the balcony.

"She's going to leave because she thinks she is too different to be here," Kurt explained. Ellie tensed up and squeezed the strap of her backpack in her hand.

"That's ridiculous! You can't leave, you just got here."

"Just because the two of you are understanding about this doesn't mean that the others are," Ellie pointed out. "Did you even see the look on Logan's face? Or how about Rogue? I know for a fact that she was hurt because of me." Kurt and Kitty exchanged worried glances.

"Rogue's a tough girl, Ellie. She can handle a little fire," Kitty assured her. "As for Mister Logan, he's just a hothead sometimes. I don't believe for a second that he wants you out of here."

"Neither do I," Eli added as he walked into the room. Ellie lowered herself to the ground and turned toward her brother.

"You can come with me," she told him. "It's not like they are going to want you around any more than they would want me." Both Kurt and Kitty had confused looks on their faces.

"I don't know about that. They could always keep me around as eye candy." Ellie didn't laugh at his joke.

"I'm serious Eli. We need to leave and we need to leave now. So are you coming with me or not?" Eli's expression hardened.

"No." Kurt and Kitty raised their eyebrows.

"What?" Ellie asked, surprised at his answer.

"I said no Ellie. I'm tired of running. We have a really great thing going here in Bayville and I'm not going to let my fears jeopardize that." Ellie's heart clenched in her chest.

The four teens turned toward the door as Professor X, Storm and Wolverine entered the room. A few of the other X-men were peering in the open doorway but remained outside of the room. With her hands gripping her backpack straps, Ellie positioned herself for quick takeoff into the sky. As she was digging her heels into the carpet for traction, the Professor spoke.

"Ellie, I do not want you to leave the institute," he said. "I see that you and Eli need to discuss a few things with Storm, Wolverine and myself. We would never ask you to leave the institute due to something as trivial as this."

"Trivial?" Ellie asked, standing up straight. "You think that this is trivial?"

"Watch the tone, blondie," Wolverine warned. "We just want to talk to ya." Ellie shot a look to Eli.

"I'm sure that's all you want."

"Kurt, Kitty, would the two of you please leave the room for a moment? I would like to speak with the Dingo's in private," Professor X asked. The two X-men left the room, shutting the door behind them.

"I suppose we should begin with the obvious. Ellie has more powers than we were aware of, is the same true for you, Eli?" Ellie's eyes widened.

"No," she quickly said. "Eli is completely normal. Well, for a mutant anyway." Eli shook his head.

"I'm not going to lie anymore Ellie. Yes, Professor. I also have two powers," Eli answered. Storm gave Ellie a sympathetic look, but she did not notice.

"The truth is that our parents work for HYDRA. When we were diagnosed with the X-gene we were experimented on," Eli told the adults. Logan snarled as he balled his fists at his sides.

"Genetic mutation on mutants?" Storm asked. Eli nodded.

"They wanted to see if there was a way to create an all powerful mutant. Someone who could carry different manifestations of the X-gene."

"Shut up Eli!" Ellie yelled, causing everyone to turn their attention to her. "Stop talking. They don't need to know anything!"

"Yes they do. Regardless of what you decide to do, this is going to be my home. I am not running away with you again. I love you with all of my heart Ellie, but I honestly cannot do it anymore." Wolverine narrowed his eyes at Ellie.

"You plan on runnin' away from this, kid?" he asked her. Ellie ignored him.

"I understand that this is a delicate topic for the both of you. I am just trying to grasp an understanding so I am able to accommodate the two of you accordingly," Professor X explained as he rolled closer to Ellie.

"I am able to become an embodiment of water as you already know. I can also control plant life. You know, make them grow, make them die, the whole deal," Eli told the adults. "Are you going to tell them what you can do, or am I going to have to do it?" he had turned his head toward his sister now.

"I love you Eli," Ellie said as she slid her communicator off her wrist, dropping it to the floor. The two shared a very brief look of pain before Ellie shot into the air and flew off into the distance.

Wolverine ran to the edge of the balcony and Storm placed her hand on the Professor's shoulder. Eli kept his eyes glued to the sky where Ellie had just been as his body started to tremble. He never expected her to run this time. Eli feared that he may have just lost his sister for good.

"Are we just gonna let her go Charles?" Wolverine asked over his shoulder. The professor nodded unhappily.

"Yes, Logan. If Ellie wishes to come back we will welcome her with open arms but until then, we will not pursue her," he replied. Eli balled his fists at his side before storming out of the room.

As he flung the bedroom door open he was greeted by the faces of the entire student body of the academy. Kitty and Kurt gave him questioning looks that he replied to with an angry expression. As he made his way into the hall the students backed toward the walls to give him room. Jean placed her hand on his shoulder as he passed her, stopping him in his tracks.

"I know that this looks bad right now, but nothing is going to change, okay?" she said in an attempt to comfort him. Eli shrugged her hand off him.

"_Everything_ is going to change," he replied angrily before making his way down the hallway.

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Pietro had finished looking through Ellie's journal for the night and was making his way to the kitchen in search for something to eat when Toad bounded down the stairs past him. Pietro gripped the banister as he regained his footing, scowling at his housemate the entire time. He ran his hand through his light hair before continuing down the stairs.

"Why don't cha watch where you're going Toad!" he yelled angrily as he entered the room where Toad and Lance were.

"Yeah yeah sure thing. So maybe this is a bad time but guess what I just saw," Toad said as he pointed his thumb at his chest. Lance and Pietro rolled their eyes in unison.

"Let me guess," Lance started. "It wasn't a bar of soap." Pietro high-fived him on his way to the refrigerator.

"Very funny. You guys are really gonna want to know what I just saw!"

The three stopped talking as the front door slammed shut. Fred walked into the room, his overalls soaked and dripping all over the floor. Toad hopped over to him.

"Hey Blob, guess what I just saw," he anxiously begged.

"Not now Toad, I'm soaked," Blob said as he grabbed a paper towel and wiped it over his face.

"Yeah and you're dripping all over the place. That's a real hazard for me ya know," Pietro pointed out as he slammed the fridge shut, a bottle of water in his hand.

"Will someone please just guess what I saw already!" Toad screamed.

"Shut up Toad!" all three boys yelled back in unison. The four exchanged confused glances as someone knocked on the front door.

They stood in the kitchen looking back and forth between themselves. Fred counted off each person on his fingers before scratching his head. Nobody else lived at the Brotherhood House, and they were not expecting any guests. Toad folded his arms over his chest before giving them a smug smile.

"Why don't you go get that Pietro," he said. The four boys walked into the hall and Pietro nervously opened the front door.

In the doorway Ellie stood soaking wet with her backpack resting at her side in her hand. She looked to be out of breath as rain slid down her face. Pietro stared at her wide-eyed before looking to his housemates. Toad nudged Pietro in the arm.

"You shoulda guessed what I saw earlier," he boasted, already knowing Ellie was at their house. Pietro looked back at Ellie and a long silence occurred.

"Hey," Ellie said as thunder boomed above.

"Hey?" Pietro replied sounding more confused than he intended. Ellie pushed a piece of wet hair behind her ear.

"Think I could stay here for a while?"

"Come on in," Fred said a bit too excitedly. Ellie looked to Pietro to see if he was okay with this.

He tilted his head before sighing. Pietro pushed the door open wider and leaned against it before waving his hand. Ellie gave him an appreciative nod before entering the house. Pietro shut the door behind her and folded his arms over his chest. The four boys stared at Ellie as if they had never seen her before in their lives.

"Why are you here?" Lance asked suspiciously.

"I don't know," she replied. Pietro noticed she had started to shake a bit.

"Isn't it obvious? She couldn't resist my charm! Glad to see you baby," Toad said as he wrapped his arm around Ellie's shoulder. Fred pushed him away from her.

"Shut up Toad," he ordered. "I thought you were stayin' with the X-losers?" Ellie shrugged.

"It didn't really work out," she said, rubbing her arms to try and warm up. Pietro rolled his eyes before whizzing out of the room, then back into it within seconds.

"Here," he said unhappily as he threw a towel onto her head. Ellie pulled it off her head and ran it over her new recruit suit before wrapping her hair in it.

"Thanks," she replied. Another awkward silence occurred.

"Look, I just need a place to lay low for a few days. I was going to go to my aunts place but that was too obvious. Is it cool if I stay here or no?" she found herself asking Pietro rather than the entire household.

"I suppose it's fine," he replied. Lance gave him a quick look of confusion.

"Thanks." Fred took Ellie's bag out of her hand.

"Here, I can show you to a room," he told her. Ellie nodded to him before following him up the staircase.

"There something' you feel like telling' me?" Lance asked Pietro.

"Like what?" he asked, annoyed.

"Like why you juts let Ellie Dingo, who is wearing a new recruit of the X-men costume, into our home to stay for a few days?" Pietro shrugged.

"The plan was to steal the Dingo's away from the X-men, right? Well it looks like we just got one, now doesn't it?" Lance wrinkled his nose.

"So why did you get her a towel to dry off?" Pietro stiffened.

"Why didn't you?" Pietro shot back. "Enough with the questions Alvers. I just scored big time for us, so you just deal with it."

With that Pietro walked up the staircase. Lance stood in front of the door with his arms folded across his chest. He had no issue with Ellie staying with them for a few days but he could tell that something was going on with Pietro. He decided to drop it for the night and returned to the kitchen.

* * *

A/N: So between full time college courses, piles of homework, and working part-time I had to take a break from writing. Hopefully this chapter was enjoyable to you and I'll start updating more frequently.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13**_

_**The Brotherhood House**_

"Sorry about this," Fred apologized as he twisted the doorknob to Mystique's bedroom over and over in his hand. "Darn thing is locked."

"It's fine," Ellie replied as she placed her hand on his. "I can just crash on the couch." Fred's cheeks turned pink at her touch and he dropped his hand from the doorknob.

"Are you sure? That couch is pretty lumpy ya know." Ellie shrugged.

"I've slept on worse I'm sure." A wet piece of hair dripped water onto her forehead as she spoke.

"Here, lemme get ya another towel." Ellie grabbed Fred's arm, stopping him as he was getting ready to pass her.

"No worries," she told him as she held her arms out to her sides with her palms facing the ceiling. "I've got this." A strong gust of air rose from the floor and covered Ellie's body.

Fred shielded his eyes with his large forearm, peeking every few seconds at Ellie. Her long hair stood straight up in the air, the ends whipping wildly in many directions as she dried herself off. The strength of the wind that had engulfed her started to cause her throat to burn, so she quickly dropped her hands to her sides and stopped her manipulation. With a hand clasped around her throat, Ellie coughed for a few moments.

"You okay?" Fred asked, unsure of what was wrong.

"Fine," Ellie replied quickly. She was mentally cursing the strong link between oxygen and fire now.

"Show off," Pietro scoffed as he rounded the corner of the hallway where the two were. Ellie narrowed her eyes at him. "Blob, put some blankets and stuff on the couch for our squatter here." Fred rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, maybe I could try and ram the door down," the large boy said hesitantly. Pietro gave him a stern look.

"She gets the couch, Blob. Now go." Ellie rolled her eyes at Pietro as Fred left the hallway. Pietro lifted an eyebrow and smirked before walking closer toward her.

"So, you came crawling to the Brotherhood after all," he said boastfully as if he had swayed her mind somehow. Ellie held her ground as Pietro leaned in a few inches from her face. "What, afraid that the X-men were going to discover your little secret?"

"What?" Ellie snapped, her eyes wide. Pietro's smirk grew.

"Oh, I know all about you Ellie. Actually, I know about that brother of yours too."

"Don't you talk about him!"

"Did I hit a nerve? You know it's only a matter of time before the Professor figures things out about him. He's a pretty sharp old man, you know." Ellie scanned Pietro's smug face in silence before laughing at him.

"Why're you laughing?" Pietro asked as he pulled away from her with his forehead wrinkled in confusion. Ellie continued to laugh.

"You're right," she said, still chuckling. "The Professor is pretty sharp. I guess that would explain why he already knows about Eli and myself." Pietro's eyes widened.

"What's the matter Pietro?" she asked in a mocking tone. "Did I spoil your blackmail?" Pietro pushed his face centimeters from Ellie's, startling her.

"Not even close. Besides, you're here aren't you? So obviously they weren't too thrilled about your enhancements," Pietro glanced down at Ellie's arms and she scowled at him. Neither of them had noticed a third party had entered the hall.

"Enhancements huh?" Toad asked as he pushed himself between the two, his eyebrows lifting and falling as he scanned Ellie's body. She quickly pushed him back into Pietro.

"Pig," she said angrily. The green boy smiled.

"Nope, Toad," he corrected. "But that's okay baby, I'm into pet names." Pietro pushed the boy to the side roughly. "Hey!"

"Get outta here Toad!" Pietro yelled as he pointed to the stairs.

"Well _sor-ry_, I didn't realize she was already spoken for." Both Pietro and Ellie stood up straighter.

"Hardly!" Ellie yelled.

"Yeah right!" Pietro said at the same time. Toad rolled his eyes as Fred entered the hall.

"Hey, the couch is made up for you," he informed Ellie. She smiled to her friend, ignoring the other boys.

"Thanks so much, Fred," she told him.

"Aw it was nothin'." Pietro shook his head.

All he wanted to do was let this girl know that he had dirt on her, and she had to go and ruin it. Now he wasn't even able to get any details out of her thanks to his housemates. He grimaced at the smile she gave Fred. All the kid had done was put a blanket on an old, smelly couch for the girl and she was practically beaming but when he had invited her into his home and gave her a towel, she barely batted her eyes. Pietro stopped himself now, none of this was relevant to the matter at hand.

"Would you go and change out of that stupid outfit already?" he yelled, referring to Ellie's new recruit suit.

"Fine," she shot back. As she was on her way into the bathroom, Toad grinned before leaping into the air behind her.

In a split second, Ellie slammed the door shut causing him to jump face-first into the hard door. Fred chuckled before scooping the boy up from the ground, holding him upside down in his arms. Pietro watched Fred carry him down the hall as Toad held his hands over his face.

"She's a feisty one alright," he said, sobbing slightly. "Ow!"

"_She sure is,"_ Pietro thought as he leaned against the wall, his eyes glued to the brown door that Ellie was behind.

This girl did nothing but push his buttons every chance she got, but he could not stop thinking about her. He needed her as a part of the Brotherhood now. Seeing the way she handled the other boys and his attempts at intimidating her, she fit right in with the lot. However, this did not explain why he was staring at a closed door, waiting for her now. Pietro ran a hand over his face before storming off to his bedroom.

Ellie had changed into her oversized t-shirt and shorts before making her way into the living room. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold in her laughter when she saw the couch. There were five large blankets stacked on top of one another and six pillows stacked neatly by the arm. It appeared that Fred had given her his entire bed rather than simply making up the couch. Shaking her head, she began to reorganize the bedding.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning then," she heard someone saying from inside the kitchen. "Alright, bye."

Ellie quickly returned to fixing the bedding on the couch as Lance walked into the room. He nervously rubbed his head when he noticed her. Ellie glanced over at him, trying to figure out if she should say anything to him or not.

"Sorry, I forgot you were sleeping here," he apologized.

"Oh, it's fine," she replied happily. "It's your house." Lance nodded.

"So…I just got off the phone with Kitty." Ellie felt her stomach tighten.

"Oh?"

"I guess everyone is worried about you or something."

"Doubt it." Lance shifted his weight awkwardly.

"Can you not tell her that I'm staying here?" Ellie asked with a pillow in her hand resting at her side.

"You mean lie to my girlfriend?" he asked.

"It would only be a lie of omission."

"I dunno kid."

"Wait, did you say_ girlfriend_? I thought you and Kitty were just into each other or something." Lance's face turned red.

"Okay, I'll make ya a deal. You don't tell any of the guys about Kitty, and I won't tell anyone you're here. Deal?" Ellie nodded.

"Deal." She returned to fixing the couch and Lance looked around the room.

He wasn't sure how to react to Ellie staying over at the Brotherhood house. For some reason Pietro really wanted her there, so he had to deal with it, but it felt strange to the young boy. Kitty had not mentioned why Ellie had left the mansion and Lance didn't ask but he couldn't help but wonder why she came to this place.

"Well, see ya," he said before walking out of the room. Ellie didn't reply, but instead slid under one large blanket and tried to fall asleep.

She felt guilty about leaving Eli behind tonight, but she didn't really have a choice. They had been so careful over the past few years about exposing themselves to anyone, and now that entire world was crumbling faster than she could prepare for. The look on Rogue's face when she acquired her power flooded into her mind and Ellie squeezed her eyes shut tight.

It was a bad idea to take Eli's place in that training session. She knew what could happen, but she wanted to protect her brother, and ended up ruining everything for the both of them. Now she was alone, in a dirty house full of delinquent boys who probably didn't even want her there. With an aggravated exhale Ellie rolled onto her back, her eyes glued to the ceiling. The only thing she didn't know was that right above her, Pietro was lying in his bed, staring down at the floor with just as much on his mind.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14**_

Ellie found herself falling asleep for only an hour before waking up in the dark living room of the Brotherhood House. She let out a groan as her eyes landed on the glowing green numbers of the old VCR that was placed beneath the television. 11:57 p.m. Rolling over in an attempt to get comfortable, Ellie's nose smashed against the back of the couch. After letting out an aggravated moan, she sat up and looked around the room.

The dark rug that was wrinkled on the scuffed floor was covered in very noticeable dirt and the aroma of week-old garbage filled the room. With her nose crinkled at the terrible odor, she climbed off the couch and left the room. The narrow hallway was even darker than the living room and Ellie bit her lower lip lightly. Her eyes darted around the room to make certain that she was alone before she popped her thumb up in front of her. Within seconds a small flame danced along her thumbnail.

Ellie winced at the slight burning sensation in her thumb before making her way into the kitchen. Just as she expected, there was a pile of garbage bags lying against the wall, flies circling the bags eagerly. Ellie flipped the light switch up and extinguished the flame on her thumb before walking further into the room. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she stepped in something wet on the floor. Grossed out at the thought of what it could have been, she jumped into the air and hovered the rest of the way to the garbage bags.

"Boys are disgusting," she muttered to herself as she noticed a slice of pizza sitting on the counter with green fuzz coating a good portion of it.

Ellie crossed her legs and rested her head on her hand in the air as she rethought her previous statement. Not all boys were as filthy as these boys were. For instance, Eli was actually quite clean and tidy, it was very rare that she had ever seen him looking shabby. The thought of her brother made her jaw clench. She worried about him being on his own tonight and hated the thought of what the X-Men must have been saying about him. Without realizing it, Ellie had gathered two garbage bags in her hands and flew them into the hallway.

Ellie needed to occupy herself so she would not worry as much, so she decided to clean up the house. She made sure to be quiet when exiting the house to drop the garbage off at the curb and kept her disgusted noises to herself so as not to wake any of the boys upstairs. Although she was still unsure of her decision to ask the Brotherhood for help, the least she could do was help them out with a few chores. She had just started spraying the counter tops with a bleach spray when Toad entered the room.

"What in the heck are you doing?" he asked, his fist rubbing his eye roughly as he made his way into the kitchen. Ellie stopped cleaning and turned to face him.

"Sorry," she said calmly. "I'll stop." Toad's eyes widened as he noticed the kitchen was nearly spotless.

"Yo did you clean all of this?"

"Yeah."

"Man, we should have recruited a chick into the Brotherhood years ago!" Ellie did not like that he had used the word "recruited". "Hey, where's the garbage?"

"On the curb, stinking up the neighborhood." Toad groaned sadly.

"Aw man! My midnight snack was buzzin' around that trash man!" The greasy boy slumped his shoulders, pouting over the loss of his insects.

"Well feel free to nab a few spiders from the living room. I'm cleaning in there next." Toad smiled at her attempt of humor.

"Not big into spiders really. Anything that bites back is usually a deal breaker." Ellie gave him a small smile before returning to cleaning the counter tops. Toad looked around the room, confused as to what he should do next.

"Aren't you gonna be tired in the morning?" he asked. He watched as Ellie's shoulders lifted then fell.

"I'll sleep in," she replied coolly.

"But tomorrow is Friday. We have school."

"You have school. I'm done with Bayville High." Toad began to scratch his head.

"So, you're what? Droppin' out or somethin'?"

"Dunno. Maybe. I just don't really want to see anyone from the X-Mansion right now." Ellie straightened up at the sound of her voice. She did not mean to tell Toad that much information.

"Not even that twin of yours?" Toad leaped onto the counter, leaning into Ellie's view.

"Get off the counter!" she commanded, pushing him to the floor where he landed on his feet. "I'm just not going tomorrow, okay?" Toad cocked an eyebrow at her before dropping the subject.

"Y'know, I'm sure those losers at Xavier's school probably told you some things about me and the guys, but they aren't all true." Ellie moved her sponge a bit slower now.

"Oh really?" she asked over her shoulder. "Like what?"

"Well, like that we're bad guys and all that. We're not really bad. We just don't have much guidance, ya know? I mean heck, Xavier never came knockin' on my door askin' me to join his team."

"So you're bitter?"

"Heck no! I love all this freedom. I can use my powers however I want and whenever I want, no consequences." Ellie turned over her shoulder now, interested in the conversation.

"Really?" she asked. "No consequences at all?"

"Nope. I mean those losers come ruin everything most of the time, but that's about it."

"Why?"

"'Cause they're losers. They've got some problem with mutants that don't conform to what they think we should be doing with our powers. Heck, I was born a mutant and I'll use my powers however I want yo! Nobody is gonna tell me how to live." Ellie nodded, understanding exactly where he was coming from.

All she ever wanted was the freedom to be herself, whoever that was now. Before the X-gene was discovered in her DNA she got to live like any other normal kid. She had tea parties with stuffed animals, she fell off her bike and she had friends. But now, all of that normality was gone and so was that normal little girl. She had been searching for a place where she could simply live without fearing that someone was coming after her. Everything that Toad was telling her seemed to fit that description.

"I'm sorry I got rid of your flies," she said. Toad looked at her, seeing that her usually cold blue eyes had a slight warmth to them now.

"Ah, it's no big thing. Midnight snacks give me nightmares anyway," he replied with the wave of his hand. Ellie nodded before tossing the damp sponge into the now empty sink. She looked around, impressed that she had gotten the entire room cleaned.

"Well, I think the living room will have to wait until tomorrow," she said, rolling her neck from side to side. "I'm pretty beat."

"I bet. Well, g'night Dingo!" Toad said excitedly before jumping out of the room. Ellie ran to the open archway and leaned into the hallway.

"It's Ellie!" she whispered after him. Toad bounded up the stairs and she returned to her couch, tucking herself in and accepting sleep.

* * *

_**The X-Mansion**_

Eli had a difficult night. Every time he started to doze off he was woke right back up by some awful nightmare where something bad happened to Ellie. He sat, alone, at the long dinning room table rubbing his hands over his face slowly. The skin below his eyes was a light grey, and his eye lids were heavy. Eli barely noticed when Mr. Logan entered the room.

"Looks like you had a rough night, kid," he grumbled as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Eli nodded slowly.

"Sounds about right," he replied. "Mind pouring me a cup?" His natural charm was wasted on Logan who ignored his request and crossed the room.

"You're just _too_ kind," he sarcastically said to his mentor before getting up to pour his own cup. Logan scoffed at him before turning his attention to the morning paper.

"Hey, any news in there that would be important to me?" Eli asked in a serious tone. Logan looked at him now.

"Your sister is fine, Waterboy. I'm sure she's just blowin' off some steam," Logan replied. Eli nodded.

"Right."

The two turned their attention to the noise of numerous voices entering the room. Eli stared at the X-Men who talked over one another as they raided the room for food. He stood with his coffee mug hooked over his fingers when Kitty approached him.

"Whoa, looks like you got up awful early," she said, surprised. "You're already dressed!" Eli raised his mug to her.

"The early bird gets the worm," he replied with a wink as he lifted his mug to his lips. Before he could take a sip, the mug was snatched away from him by Evan.

"And the slow bird loses the worm!" he laughed before drinking the coffee himself. Eli shook his head at the boy before pouring himself a new cup of coffee.

"Eli, you want to ride to school with me and Kurt?" Scott asked after placing a hand on Eli's shoulder even though he was a few inches shorter than the boy. Eli looked at him curiously.

"Depends," Eli answered. "Do you have a nice car?" Scott grinned at him.

"The nicest."

"Then I'm in." Scott nodded before grabbing a muffin from the table. Eli looked at the table to see Amara and Tabitha staring at him.

"He is just too cute," Tabitha whispered before the two girls started giggling. Eli smirked as he registered the secret comment and finally took a drink of his coffee.

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

"Is she dead?" Lance whispered as the four boys stood over the couch where Ellie was sleeping.

"Dunno," Fed replied. "I've never heard anyone make that noise before." The boys exchanged nervous looks.

Ellie was lying on her back, her mouth wide open as she snored loudly. She had one arm resting over her head and the other had fallen over the side of the couch. Her legs were sprawled out so that one leg rested over the back of the couch and the other teetered on the edge of the cushions. Pietro kept glancing at the small sliver of her stomach that was exposed before poking her in the face.

"What?" Ellie shouted, frightened as she flew up into the air. "What?" she asked nearly out of breath as she looked around.

"Oh…yeah," she said, embarrassed as she remembered she slept at the Brotherhood House last night. Her eyes darted up and she groaned. Her hair was twisted around like she had just been out in a tornado.

"You're alive!" Fred said happily. Ellie sat back on the couch and combed her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah," she replied, wincing as she snagged her finger on a strand of hair. Pietro folded his arms over his chest.

"I said you could stay here, not that you could clean our kitchen," he grumbled. "You know those flies were Toad's breakfast?" Ellie rolled her eyes at him.

"Leave her alone Pietro," Fred said.

"Yeah man, I'll grab some food at school today. Yesterday was meatloaf day, so I'm sure those trash bins are buzzin'," Toad added. Pietro glared at his housemates.

"So, did anyone else notice that we have almost no food?" Lance asked. Fred nodded sadly.

"I'll go grocery shopping today if you want," Ellie said. All four boys gave her confused and surprised looks.

"You'll what?" Pietro asked.

"What? You let me stay here, I can return the favor by feeding you." The boys looked around at each other.

"How do you plan on paying for the groceries, huh? We have no money."

"I have money. Now do you want to eat or not?" Fred gave Pietro a pathetic look.

"Fine. Go play housekeeper for the day. Just stay out of my room." With that, the silver haired boy left the room. The three others waved goodbye to Ellie before following him outside of the house and loading into the Jeep.

Ellie watched from the window as the boys sped off down the road with their radio blaring Rock music. She smiled to herself as she thought about taking care of them for the day. That smile faded quickly when she realized what she was actually doing. Ellie had taken care of Eli for so long, that she didn't know what to do with herself when he wasn't around to look after. She was using these four boys to fill the hole that was left when she left him.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself, sitting on the windowsill. She rubbed her bare arms as she thought to herself.

She had spent one night in the Brotherhood house and had already established some sort of relationship with three of the occupants, cleaned their kitchen, and was now offering to buy them groceries. This was not her. She did not sign up to mother four delinquents. All she asked for was a place to stay for the night. Ellie let out an angry groan before running her hands over her face.

"If I keep the house looking nice, they can't say that I owe them for letting me stay here," she told herself, justifying her earlier offering. She had not fully convinced herself yet, but she already told the boys that she would buy them groceries and she was not going to make a liar of herself. Ellie made her way to the bathroom to prepare herself for the day.

* * *

_**Bayville High**_

Pietro, Lance, and Fred leaned against the wall outside of Bayville High as Toad eagerly snatched a few flies from the air with his tongue. Pietro scowled as he noticed Evan and Tabitha walking into the school. Lance seemed to perk up a bit, scanning the area for any sign of Kitty.

"I wish Ellie was here," Fred said, awkwardly. Pietro lifted a brow at him.

"Why?" he asked, moving in front of his friends now.

"'Cause she's cool," Toad answered, rubbing his sleeve over his mouth. Fred nodded.

"You're both idiots. That girl is annoying as hell! I mean, she comes to our house in the middle of the night and basically requests that we give her a place to stay. I swear, she's gonna have our house turned upside down when we get home." Before he could react, his back was slammed against the brick wall.

"Hey, get off him!" Lance yelled. Eli stared down at Pietro, his hands gripping his shirt tightly as he pushed him harder against the wall.

"What did you do with my sister?" Eli asked menacingly, his eyes burning a direct line into Pietro's.

"Hey, let me go!" Pietro yelled, squirming in his grip. He knew now that he should have just kept his mouth shut, or at least looked around before opening it.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Bayville High**_

"Will somebody get this lunatic off me?" Pietro yelled as he shot angry looks at his three friends. Eli pushed him harder against the wall.

"I'd like to see them try," he said through clenched teeth. A crowd of students had started to form when Kitty and Kurt ran over to the boys.

"Eli!" Kitty screamed, surprised. "Let him go, we're at school!" Eli's eyes stayed on Pietro.

"This prick knows where my sister is," he informed her. Kitty quickly glanced to Lance who shrugged.

"Well that doesn't mean you can just go slamming him around."

"Aw gee Kitty-cat, I didn't realize you cared so much," Pietro said in a faux-sweet tone. Lance folded his arms over his chest, refusing to even attempt to help Pietro now.

"Kitty is right mein friend," Kurt added as he placed a hand on Eli's shoulder. "Pietro is not worth it." Eli glanced to the elfish boy before releasing Pietro. The crowd dispersed when they realized nothing was going to happen now.

"I suppose you're both right," Eli admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just got carried away." Pietro ran his palms over his chest, smoothing the wrinkles out of his shirt.

"If these don't iron out you owe me a new shirt pal!" Pietro angrily yelled. Lance rolled his eyes as the silver-haired boy continued to do what had gotten him into this mess, talk.

"Just shut up Pietro!" Kitty demanded. Eli turned back toward him.

"Listen, I dunno what you know about my sister, but I promise you that if anything happens to her, I'll rip your head off with my own two hands, got it?" Eli threatened. Toad swallowed hard before grabbing his throat.

"I could care less about your stupid sister," Pietro shot back.

"Good to hear. I guess I'll be seeing you boys on the battlefield then." Eli sent a smirk Pietro's way before walking into the school. Kurt followed after him and Kitty gave Lance a stern look.

"Do not hurt my friend," she said to the entire group while her eyes stayed on Lance before running after Kurt and Eli. Pietro scoffed and his housemates turned toward him.

"What a bunch of psychopaths."

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Ellie flew from room to room with a can of disinfectant in one hand and air freshener in the other. She doused everything that she could with the sprays before planting her feet on the freshly mopped floor of the hallway. She tossed both of the empty cans into a trash bag that rested against the front door before swiping her arm over her forehead.

"Well, this floor is finished," she told herself as she examined the clean area.

For a brief second she could feel herself smiling at her accomplishment, but she quickly pushed that feeling out of her mind. This was not her home and she was not cleaning just because she could. She had a debt to repay to the Brotherhood and she needed to remember that. Ellie pulled a folded piece of paper that had a list of groceries on it out of the back pocket of her cut-offs and fiddled with it before turning her attention upstairs.

"Stay out of my room," Pietro's voice echoed in her mind. The way that Ellie recalled him saying this was not in a tone that anyone who wanted privacy would say it, but in a tone that indicated Pietro had something to hide.

Ellie had now made her way up the stairs and into the second floor hallway. She knew it was wrong to deliberately disobey someone's wishes, but she didn't really care about Pietro's feelings. Anything that Pietro would feel was worth hiding from her was something that she desperately needed. Ellie's hand coiled around Pietro's bedroom doorknob and she promised herself that she would never do this again. To her surprise the door was unlocked and opened effortlessly.

Taking a cautious step into the fairly clean room, Ellie made sure she did not step on or touch anything that would alert Pietro to her intrusion. She tried not to think about what she was doing and made her way over to his desk. It was quite organized with a few pencils and pens seated on top. Just as she was getting ready to move on, she noticed that the bottom desk drawer was open slightly.

"No, no way," Ellie said to herself. "This is wrong." With that, Ellie left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Feeling a bit guilty and angry that she didn't find anything right away, Ellie gripped her grocery list in her hand and left the house. Still unfamiliar with the area, it took her nearly an hour to find the grocery store that was only fifteen minutes away from the Brotherhood house. She grabbed a shopping cart and quickly exchanged it for another after discovering the wheel squeaked. Her grocery list rested in the cart where a child would sit as she walked through the store, grabbing items she wanted.

Ellie placed a sack of oranges into her cart when she noticed three bananas sitting with the apples. She looked around before picking the produce up and flipped them over on the back of her hand. She lifted her eyebrow at her reflection in the mirrored wall behind the wall of fruit.

"Look at me, I'm Wolverine," she whispered in a fake manly voice as she jutted her hand out in a clawing motion. "What's the matter, blondie? Scared of my banana claws?" She jumped and fumbled with the bananas when someone cleared their throat from behind her. She turned to see a man with white hair staring down at her.

"Excuse me Miss," he started. "Would you mind moving your cart? I need to get to the strawberries." Ellie was certain that her face had turned the same color of the fruit he was describing.

"Sure thing, sorry about that," she apologized as she pushed her cart out of the way. The man gave her a nod and a smile before grabbing a plastic box of strawberries.

"Was that Wolverine that you were imitating just now?" he asked. Ellie looked to him.

"Oh, you heard all of that?" she asked, embarrassed. The man chuckled.

"It was quite a good impression. Tell me, do you know Wolverine?" Ellie tensed up.

"Doesn't everybody?" The man nodded.

"Ah yes, he and the X-Men are on television quite often aren't they?" Ellie nodded, thankful that this was true and she was not found out. "Is he your favorite?"

"Favorite?"

"Well everybody has a favorite." This small talk was becoming too intense for Ellie's liking.

"No, he's just the easiest to make fun of I suppose. Well, I'll be going now." Ellie pushed her cart away from the produce and into the cereal aisle away from the white haired man.

"_What a creep_," she thought to herself as she dropped a box of cereal into her cart. She scribbled on her list, crossing off everything she had already gotten and placed her pen behind her ear.

As she was pushing her cart out of the aisle, another cart slammed into hers, ripping the bar out of her hands. She angrily looked to the person who had rammed into her. Her anger grew as she stared at the white haired man who was smiling back at her.

"Well it looks like we just can't get away from each other," he laughed. Ellie grabbed the bar of her cart and pushed it forward without saying anything. "I do apologize for our accident."

Ellie waved her hand over her head to indicate that it was fine as she walked into another aisle. She found herself checking over her shoulder for that man every few seconds. His deep voice repeated over in her mind and the familiar smirk that he had been giving her sent chills down her spine. She quickly gathered the rest of her groceries and checked out. Sighing from relief she walked into the parking lot with her grocery bags hanging over her arms and pressed against her chest.

She did not factor that she was buying too many groceries to carry home and she wished she had. Awkwardly balancing everything in her arms she took a step forward only to jump back as a black car pulled up in front of her. The tinted window rolled down and the white haired man smirked back at her.

"Need a ride somewhere?" he asked her. Ellie clenched her jaw as her heart started to beat a little faster.

"What is your problem?" she snapped at him. "I'm a teenager, pal. Stop being a creep and leave me alone." The man laughed.

"I was simply showing you kindness Dear. It appears that you do not have a car and have too many bags to carry all the way home."

"How would you know how far away I live?"

"Let's make this easy on ourselves, get in the car Miss." The car door opened and Ellie took to her instincts, shooting into the air and flying through the sky as fast as she could. The white haired man scowled up into the sky.

"Well, I didn't see that one comin'," the long haired driver of the man's car grumbled. He shut his car door angrily.

"Just drive, Sabretooth," he ordered.

* * *

_**Bayville High**_

"Man it feels good to be outta there!" Toad happily said as he and his housemates walked out of school together.

"You ain't kidding," Lance added as he stretched his arms over his head and groaned. Pietro looked around the area for any sign of Eli.

The three boys jumped when Toad screamed. He grabbed onto his greasy head and rolled around on the ground groaning. The three boys that were still standing exchanged confused looks.

"I'm dead, I'm dead! I just know it!" Toad cried. Pietro lifted his eyebrow at a green apple that was lying on the ground next to him.

"You're not dead you idiot," he informed Toad before picking the apple up. He examined it before looking up only to see the blue sky.

"It's a miracle!" Toad exclaimed, jumping up.

"Where'd that come from?" Lance asked, his eyes searching the sky.

"Dunno," Pietro answered. Toad snagged the apple from his hand and took a bite out of it.

"Who cares its food!" he told them with a mouth full of apple. Pietro shrugged before making his way to Lance's jeep.

"Man, I sure hope Ellie bought us some more food," Fred said as he rubbed his round stomach. "I'm starving!"

"Don't get too excited Blob," Pietro told him. "I'm sure that girl is long gone by now." Lance buckled his seatbelt in the driver's seat.

"Is that what you want?" he asked.

"What?"

"Do you want Ellie to be gone?" The other two boys in the back of the jeep listened now. Pietro folded his arms angrily.

"I don't care. Now shut up and drive." Lance started the jeep and Pietro angrily stared out of the window as everything passed by the jeep, wondering if that was what he really wanted.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_**The Brotherhood House**_

The boys spent nearly two hours after school driving around town and looking for anything interesting to do before giving up and arriving home. Pietro was the first of the four to exit the jeep. With his backpack slung over one arm, he ran a hand through his light hair and walked into the house. Standing in the doorway, his eyes widened as soon as he noticed how clean and odor free the hallway was.

"Hey get outta the way!" Toad said as he jumped around Pietro. The freshly mopped floor did not accept his landing and Toad went sliding down the hallway before crashing into the wall.

"Whoa," Lance said as he stood next to Pietro. The boys stood, dumbfounded, and in the doorway until Fred pushed them out of the way.

"Do you guys smell that?" he asked, his nose turned up and sniffing the air excitedly. "That's food!"

"Leave it to Blob to notice the smell of food," Lance joked before nudging Pietro. Blob bounded into the kitchen and the other boys followed.

The four looked around the kitchen in awe, not only because of its cleanliness, but because of the four plates that were sitting on the table with steaming food piled on top of them. A squeal escaped Fred and Ellie turned around, catching Pietro's eye. She had been standing in front of the sink, rinsing fruit in a white colander before noticing that she had company. Pietro swallowed as he noticed the sun was streaming in from the window behind her, illuminating Ellie in a gold outline as she stared at the group of boys. He looked away from her when Fred spoke.

"Did you make all of this?" he asked her after picking a plate up with his massive hands.

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "It might be a little cold though; I wasn't sure when you'd all get home."

"Well, if we knew you were gonna cook for us we woulda come straight home," Lance explained, rubbing the back of his neck in a guilty manner.

"No, Lance, it's fine, really. I just figured you guys would be hungry so I whipped a few things up." She set the colander on the counter before tightening her ponytail.

"Aren't you eating?" Fred asked as he counted the four plates. Pietro looked to Ellie for an answer, curious of what it could be.

"No," she told him. "Actually, I'm going to leave in a few minutes." Pietro felt his heart jump in his chest.

"Why?" Toad asked. Ellie gave him a small smile.

"You guys let me crash here last night and I appreciate that. But this was only a temporary set up. I'm going to get out of your hair and find somewhere else to go. I'm just going to gather my things and then I'll leave."

"But Ellie-," Fred was cut off mid-sentence by Pietro holding his hand up and shaking his head. Ellie ignored her large friend's plea and walked out of the kitchen.

The boys looked at their plates a little less excited now. Fred was the one that was taking this news the hardest and even frowned at his plate full of food. Pietro looked around at the faces of his housemates and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them.

"Aw man," Toad said, catching everyone's attention. "She even put flies on top of my baked potato." The green boy slumped down in his chair.

"C'mon guys, snap out of it!" Pietro demanded. "There's nothing to be upset about. All that girl did was clean our house and make us dinner, it's not like she's our friend or anything."

"Speak for yourself," Fred added, resting his fist against his chubby cheek, pouting. Pietro rolled his eyes and made his way over to the sink to wash his hands.

Instead, he folded his arms over his chest, angry that nobody was listening to him. These boys were being stupid they all knew Ellie wasn't going to live with them forever. They should have all realized that to begin with. Pietro turned his head and lifted his eyebrow when he noticed the fruit in the colander, green apples.

He left the room quickly and found Ellie in the living room. Her backpack was strapped over her arms and she was ready to leave. Pietro approached her, stopping a few inches away from her body. Ellie pulled her neck back a bit, uncomfortable with his closeness.

"Did something happen today?" he asked her in a hushed tone.

"No why?" Ellie lied expertly.

"Well, because a green apple, just like the ones in the colander in the kitchen, miraculously fell out of the sky and probably brain damaged Toad."

"I'm sure Toad's brain is fine." Before she knew it, Pietro's hand was clasped around her small wrist, and he ran them through the house and into his bedroom. Ellie folded her arms over her chest as Pietro shut the door.

"What happened today?" he asked her.

"Nothing," Ellie answered. "Now get out of my way so I can leave."

"You can leave after you tell me what happened to you today that has you so freaked out that you're about to go on the run again."

"I'm not freaked out."

"You're lying." The two stared one another down in silence.

"You want to know what happened to me today. Fine, I'll tell you what happened. Some creep at the grocery store tried to make me get into his car. He was following me the entire time I was shopping too. I panicked and flew home. Satisfied?"

"What did he look like?" Pietro asked with anger clear in his tone.

"He looked old. He had a big nose and white hair."

"Do you think he's gonna come look for you or something?"

"I don't know, maybe." Ellie stared down at her dirty sneakers while Pietro looked her over.

Whether Pietro liked Ellie or not he did not want some guy prowling on her. He tried to think of a way to calm her nerves but he was having trouble keeping his own nerves settled. He had lived in this house with these boys for a while now and it was hard to remember that girls had to deal with problems like this. He took a deep breath before speaking once more.

"You know we wouldn't let anyone bother you," he told her.

"Oh yeah?" Ellie asked skeptically. "You don't even like me."

"That doesn't mean I want to find out that some creep has snatched you up. You're going to stay here until I decide it is safe for you to leave."

"You don't get to decide that."

"Yeah, I do. If someone is looking for you then you're safer here than out on the streets. If you try and leave, I'll follow you, and you know that I can keep up."

Ellie studied his face and his serious expression did not waiver in the slightest. Whether she wanted to be there or not, it seemed that she was going to be staying with the Brotherhood for a few more days. Unhappy that she was giving in, and that she was giving Pietro his way, Ellie nodded in agreement.

"Then I guess I'm staying," Ellie said. Pietro smirked back at her.

"I knew you were going to say that," he said cockily.

"How?"

"When you told me what happened earlier, you said you flew _home_."

"Shut up Pietro." Ellie let herself out of his bedroom and made her way downstairs.

Pietro smirked to himself. He did not have any blackmail that was going to force Ellie to stay with his team, but thanks to an unfortunate incident at the grocery store, he now had a motive to keep her where she was. He nodded to himself before returning to the kitchen where his housemates, and Ellie, were sitting around the dining room table. Lance gave Pietro a curious look as he took a seat next to him at the table.

"So you're gonna stay then?" Fred asked excitedly. Ellie nodded.

"Seems like someone had a change of heart," Pietro smugly added. Ellie ignored him.

"Hey, how'd you get these flies?" Toad asked as he pointed to his baked potato.

"I got them off a piece of fly paper. I caught a ton while I was cleaning and saved them for you. Sorry if they taste like glue," Ellie answered.

"Just be sure to keep them out of everyone else's food," Pietro warned, taking a bite of his now luke-warm green beans.

"What, you don't like flies? Shoot, I probably shouldn't have put them in your green beans then," Ellie said in a convincing voice. Pietro spit out his green beans and everyone laughed.

The silver-haired teen glared at his friends before taking a drink of his water. His eyes landed on Ellie and she was laughing at him as well. Seeing her so relaxed did something to Pietro that he didn't quite understand, but he felt the corners of his mouth tug upward and soon enough he was laughing with them.

* * *

_**The X-Mansion**_

"Hydro get down!" Cyclops screamed as he touched his fingers to his visor. Eli quickly threw himself to the ground of the Danger Room as Scott shot a red beam from his visor.

Above him, the beam hit a large boulder, shattering the rock over Eli's body. He covered his head with his large arms before looking up to see Jean Gray. Her red hair flipped around her as she floated around the rocks that scattered into the air. With the swipe of her hand, Eli's body was lifted into the air.

"Nice reaction time," she told him with a smile. Eli smiled back to her.

"Thanks," he replied. Jean released him from her telekinetic hold and Eli landed on his feet.

He took off running through the Danger Room, dodging saws that jutted out of the walls and leaping over craters where the floor would split open. With a wide grin on his face, he ran through a yellow piece of tape and doubled over, panting hard. He lifted his head at the sound of the other new recruits making it past the finish line after him.

"Well, looks like Waterboy here finished the obstacle course before the rest of you," Wolverine said as he approached the students. "You did good kid."

"Good job Eli!" Kitty said as she phased through the wall next to him, making him jump.

"I'm never gonna get used to that," he told her with a small laugh. Tabitha grabbed onto his arm and tapped her finger against his chin.

"Great run back there handsome," she told him. He laughed nervously before pulling his arm away from her.

"Thanks Boom-Boom."

"He's not that great," Bobby said as he cocked his head to the side. "I liked his sister better." Kurt teleported to his side now.

"I think you just liked his sister," the blue boy mentioned. Bobby went to swat at him but Kurt had teleported next to Eli now.

"Well, we're done trainin' for the day," Wolverine told the group. "Now go do your homework." The new recruits and the X-Men all left the room, many of them patting Eli on the back or the shoulder as they passed.

When he was finally away from everyone he stopped smiling. He went to the room he was staying in, changed, and left the X Mansion. His hands rested in his sweatshirt pockets and the cool air hit the top of his chest that was exposed under his zip-up. His black boots pounded against the concrete as he walked into the front yard of the mansion.

No matter how well he was doing in his training sessions, and no matter how well he got along with his new friends, Eli missed his sister. With Ellie essentially missing, he was unable to feel at ease. His heart felt like there was a heavy weight on it and guilt plagued him the worst it ever had in his life. Maybe he should have left with her when she asked him to. Or maybe he should have tried harder to make her stay. Eli stopped behind the front gate, his eyebrows pushing together as he noticed a black car parked outside.

He looked around but nobody else was outside with him that he could tell. He lifted his head a bit when the car door opened slightly. A white envelope fell onto the dark road and the car door slammed shut. Eli tried to see who was inside the car, but the windows were tinted too dark for him to see in. The car sped off down the road and Eli pushed the gate open. He carefully picked up the envelope, and flipped it in his hand, inspecting it. Without any further hesitation he opened it and removed its contents.

His eyes widened as he stared down at a photograph of Ellie. She was in a grocery store with a box of cereal in her hand, looking over her shoulder with an angry expression on her face. His heart sped up as he flipped through the pictures. They were all photographs of Ellie grocery shopping, but the last picture he looked at was a picture of her looking right at the camera with multiple bags in her arms. Without thinking, Eli dropped the pictures and ran into the road. His heartbeat filled his ears as he ran down the road, trying to catch up with the black car that was already long gone.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

_**The X-Mansion**_

"Eli!" Kitty called, her hands clasped around her mouth as she scanned the front yard. "Eli, where are you?"

"Eli!" Evan's voice echoed as he rounded the side of the mansion. Kurt teleported in front of Evan and shook his head.

"He's not inside," he explained. Scott grumbled angrily when he heard this.

"Where the heck is that kid?" he asked. "He's been missing for nearly two hours now." Jean put a hand on his tense shoulder.

"Don't worry Scott, we'll find him," she assured. Scott gave her a nod before Wolverine stepped outside in full X-gear.

"Somethin' tells me Waterboy didn't go on an evenin' stroll kids," he told the group as he walked to the front gate. A small snarl escaped his throat when he noticed pictures of Ellie scattered on the pavement outside of the mansion.

"What're those?" Evan asked as the teens surrounded their teacher.

"Well, looks like Waterboy had an incentive to leave." He passed the pictures to Scott who gasped a bit.

"Well we've got to find him!" he yelled as he handed the photos to Jean.

"Ellie too," Kitty added after seeing the pictures.

"No," Wolverine replied. "Blondie decided that she doesn't want to deal with us, so we're goin' after our own right now."

"But, Mister Logan!"

"Calm down half-pint. If we run into her, we'll help her out. Now you all go get suited up, I'm goin' to track our boy down."

"Got it," Scott announced with a nod. "X-men, you heard him. Let's go!" The team ran to get dressed as Wolverine ran down the road, tracking Eli's scent.

* * *

_**Woods**_

Eli came to a skidding halt, his eyes darting around the wooded area as the heel of his combat boot dug into the moist Earth. His chest was rising and falling hard as he tried to catch his breath. He slammed his fist against the trunk of a tree and let out an angry scream.

The car had not been in his sight throughout the entire chase, and he knew that it could not maneuver around the trees in these woods, but his feet took him here faster than his brain could decide against it. He grabbed his blond hair with his now bleeding hand and swore under his breath. His head snapped to the side at the sound of a growl.

"Who's there?" he yelled. He grimaced when a man with long greasy hair emerged out of the darkness. "Wow, it's Bigfoot."

"Shut up kid!" the man snapped, unsheathing his black, claw-like fingernails and scowling at Eli.

"Is there something that you want?"

"I want you to close your trap. My boss has a preposition for you."

"You mean your boss, the abominable snowman, right?" Eli chuckled at his own joke when the man lunged at him.

"Too slow!" Eli laughed as he jumped to the side, barely avoiding the tackle.

"I'll admit you're pretty quick on your feet kid, but not as quick as your sister." Eli's childlike smile instantly vanished.

"What do you know about my sister?"

"Did I strike a nerve?"

"Where is she?" Just as Eli was about to leap forward, Wolverine inserted himself between the two.

"Sabretooth!" he snarled as he swiped his claws at him.

"Ah Wolverine, I shoulda known this was one of your brats."

"Whoa, Wolverine you know this guy?" Eli asked, a bit surprised to see his professor.

"Unfortunately," he replied. "Stay outta the way, would ya kid? Things are about to get messy." As Wolverine smirked over his shoulder at Eli, Sabretooth lunged forward.

Seeing the attack first Eli stretched his arms forward, one on either side of Wolverine's head, and sent a burst of water at the opponent. Wolverine growled as he watched Sabretooth get pushed back from the force. Eli chuckled as his arms solidified back to their fleshy state.

"Gee Wolverine get your head in the fight man." Eli shut his mouth quickly as he received an angry look.

Eli stepped back and allowed the men to fight. With his arms folded over his chest, he stayed focused on both of their movements, studying them. He may have joked around more than he should, but Eli always had been smart even if he did not show it. His lips parted slightly and he counted to himself, timing the exact moment of every hit and kick thrown so he could calculate the best move to follow up with. Sabretooth managed to get a hit on Wolverine, sending him past Eli.

"Can I help now or no?" Eli asked over his shoulder. Wolverine flipped to his feet and snarled back at him.

"I said stay outta this kid!" Wolverine yelled, his claws shooting out of his knuckles once more. The two turned their attention to Sabretooth.

"Face it Wolverine, you're no match for me," he grumbled as he walked toward Eli. "This kid is starting to bug me though, so I'll take him out first!"

"Sorry man, but you're on my turf now," Eli apologized as he closed his eyes and faced the palms of his hands to the ground. Sabretooth grinned as he continued to advance.

"A little water ain't gonna hurt me kid!"

He stopped talking when a vine snapped around his wrist. Confused, Sabretooth went to rip it off but a second vine grabbed his other wrist before he had the chance. Wolverine watched Eli closely, waiting behind him ready to pounce if necessary. More vines started to wrap around Sabretooth's body as he growled and tried to wiggle out of their grasp and they hoisted him into the air. A leaf sprouted out of the ground, growing larger and larger before sweeping Eli off the ground. The stalk attached to the massive leaf pushed Eli close to Sabretooth and he finally opened his eyes.

"_Well would ya look at that? Waterboy's got a few tricks up his sleeve,"_ Wolverine thought with an approving smirk on his face.

"Listen up because I'm not going to ask you again," Eli ordered as he pushed the tip of his index finger against Sabretooth's forehead. "Where is my sister?" Sabretooth went to snap at his hand but the vines tightened.

Wolverine's smirk faded as he noticed the vines were starting to coil around his nemesis. Sabretooth let out a scream of pain and Wolverine looked up to where Eli was standing on the leaf. His eyes were focused on Sabretooth's, but he was smiling as if he was finding pleasure from the pain he was inflicting. The sound of a crack forced Wolverine to run to the base of the leaf stalk.

"Hydro!" he called. "Knock it off!"

"No can do Professor. You see, this guy has information that I want and I'm going to get it one way or another." A second crack was heard and Sabretooth howled out in pain.

Realizing this fight was turning into a fight to the death, Wolverine jumped into the action. He began slicing away at the thick stalk, trying to cut it down so Eli would lose his control over the plants, saving Sabretooth's life. He turned as his students burst through the woods.

"Wolverine!" Cyclops called as the X-Men entered the scene. They stopped in their tracks when they noticed what was going on.

"Rogue, stop Hydro, now!" Wolverine ordered.

"What?" Rogue asked, surprised at the request. "But why?"

"No time for questions," Kurt interrupted as he grabbed onto her. Before they knew it, they were teleported next to Eli and Rogue had touched his face.

Eli's eyes rolled up and he fell off the leaf, knocked out. Jean caught him in the air and lowered him onto the ground slowly. The giant leaf began to wilt and started crumpling apart, so Kurt teleported himself and Rogue back to the X-Men. As the vines started to unwind themselves from Sabretooth's body, the large man also lost consciousness. Wolverine caught him before he hit the ground, placing him down gently before examining the damage. No doubt he had a few broken ribs.

"I don't understand," Kitty said as she placed Eli's head in her lap, stroking his blond hair gently. "Why did Rogue have to do this Wolverine?"

"We need to be careful with this boy," he explained as he approached his students. "Hydro lost his cool up there; he woulda killed Sabretooth if he had a few more seconds."

"I don't believe that! Eli's a big sweetheart."

"Well that big sweetheart just crushed Sabretooth," Scott added as he examined the limp body on the ground. "It seems Hydro was acting more like a weapon than an X-Men during this fight." Wolverine tensed up.

Acting like a weapon, that was exactly what Eli had been doing. Wolverine had just assumed he was so riled up about his sister potentially being in trouble that he lost his cool, but Cyclops was right. Thinking back to the explanation Eli had given him the day that Ellie left the institute tied all of this together. This boy was HYDRA's creation, and Wolverine knew now that he was not created simply to see what would happen if you edited mutant DNA. He felt a twinge of sympathy for the boy and scooped him up, tossing his large body over his shoulder.

"We're goin' home," Wolverine announced as he walked into the woods. Rogue gave a sympathetic look at Eli's limp body as his blond hair tossed back and forth while Wolverine walked.

"I hope he can forgive me," she whispered. Kitty lifted a brow before looking at Eli's body.

"He'll understand. You were like, helping him, you know?" she explained. Rogue started rubbing her arms, unsure.

"The poor kid was just tryin' to find his sister. Can't really blame him for getting so worked up."

"That's enough," Scott scolded, ending the girl's conversation. "Let's just get home."

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

"Well that was a great dinner. I'm stuffed!" Fred said happily as he rubbed his round stomach. Pietro glanced at him.

"Well that's the first time I've ever heard that. Since when do you get stuffed, Blob?" he asked. Fred's face turned red.

"Well, since Ellie can cook, that's since when!"

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Why don't the both of you stop arguing and oh, I don't know, clean the dishes?" Ellie asked. All four boys gave her strange looks.

"You have got to be kidding," Lance said.

"We don't really clean, yo," Toad added. Ellie shrugged.

"Then I suppose this is the perfect chance for you to start." Pietro stood up from his seat.

"Listen here, Ellie," he began in a snarky tone. "We are not going to change our lifestyle just because you're here. Quite frankly, we're guys. Cleaning is more of a woman's chore, don't you think?" Without hesitation Ellie flew from her seat and pinned Pietro's body against the adjacent wall.

"Whoa!" Toad yelled, surprised at the quick change of scenery. "She's faster than Pietro!"

"A woman's chore? Really Pietro?" Ellie angrily said as she pushed his shoulder harder against the wall.

"Hey no fair!" Pietro yelled as he squirmed. "I wasn't ready!"

"That sucks for you. Now it looks like I have the advantage in this situation, so I'll give you two choices. You can either do the dishes, or you can get burned."

"Burned?" Lance asked as he looked at Toad and then to Fred. They both shrugged.

"You wouldn't dare." Pietro's confident smirk had started to appear and Ellie's hand started to warm up.

"Okay, okay!" Pietro yelled as he felt the heat through his shirt. "We'll do the dishes." Ellie calmed herself down and released the boy.

"That sounds wonderful. After all, that is more of a man's chore, don't you think?" Ellie said happily before walking out of the room. Pietro rubbed his chest where Ellie's hand had been pressed.

"That girl kinda scares me," Toad said, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, me too," Lance added with a nod.

* * *

A/N:Well, it's finally Winter Break, so I get to update my stories thankfully! Sorry for being lame and taking forever, finals took up more of my time than I had planned for. Hope you enjoyed this, there's more to come very soon!


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_**The Brotherhood House**_

"Toad!" Pietro screamed. "Would you keep up and dry those plates already?"

"Man, why don't you do it?" Toad replied. "You're the fast guy around here and not to mention that it's all your fault we're stuck doin' this."

"He's got a point," Lance pointed out as he placed two now clean glasses in the cabinet.

"Well I didn't see either of you jumping in to help me when she went all psychopath on me!" Pietro pointed out angrily.

"Are we done yet?" Fred groaned, growing tired of the arguing. "It's Friday night ya know."

"What, you got a hot date or somethin'?" Toad joked. Lance and Pietro chuckled at this, making Fred angry.

"I'm outta here, forget you guys!" The large boy threw his dishtowel to the floor and stormed out of the room.

"So touchy," Pietro said as he drained the dirty water out of the sink.

"Ah, you can't help but feel bad for the guy," Lance said. "I mean he's got it bad for Ellie, but she's way out of his league." Pietro stiffened slightly.

"Blob likes Ellie?" he asked, a bit skeptical that this was true. Lance gave him a confused look.

"Are you kidding me? You really haven't noticed it?"

"Yeah man, even I can see it!" Toad interjected. "Big guy's got it bad." Pietro felt his nose crinkle and quickly tried to harden his expression.

"Blob's really stupid when it comes to girls isn't he?" Pietro asked casually. "I mean, remember the whole Jean Grey thing? He didn't shut up about that for weeks."

"You think it's stupid that he has a crush on Ellie?" Lance asked curiously.

"Well yeah. Like you said, she's way out of his league. I mean this is Blob we are talking about." Pietro rubbed his wet hands over his jeans.

"What about you then? Do you think she's out of _your_ league?" Lance took a few plates from Toad and put them away as Pietro folded his arms over his chest.

"Yeah right! Nobody is out of my league, Alvers. If anything I'm out of her league."

"I dunno about that yo," Toad added.

"Why are you asking me anyway?" Pietro snapped at Lance. "I'm not the sap that likes the stupid girl." Lance smirked to himself as he closed the cabinet door.

"Right, never mind. Forget I even mentioned it," he replied. A long silence fell upon the boys until Toad spoke up.

"Well she's definitely not outta my league," he boasted. "I'm beautiful!"

"Shut up Toad!" Pietro yelled. Toad folded his arms over his chest and pouted.

"Well, dishes are done," he pointed out. "Can we get outta here now?" Lance nodded and the two left the room, leaving a brooding Pietro behind.

"_Stupid Lance. Stupid Toad,"_ he thought. "_I'm totally out of Ellie's league."_

* * *

Ellie stood in the poorly lit bathroom of the Brotherhood House staring at her reflection in the cracked mirror above the sink. She pushed her hair behind her ear and cringed as she noticed her skin was red around her cartilage piercing. She removed her ear cuff and examined the damage, wincing a bit after touching her irritated skin. She cursed Duncan Matthews under her breath for knocking her into that locker a few days ago.

The sound of someone walking up the stairs caught her attention and she turned toward the open door. A few seconds later Fred marched past, his face red, and muttering to himself. Ellie walked to the doorway and peered out after him.

"Hey Fred," she called. "You okay?" The large boy stopped and turned over his shoulder.

"I'm fine!" he snapped at her, causing her to lift a brow in confusion. "Leave me alone, will ya?" Fred continued on down the hallway and into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Ellie went back into the bathroom and looked into the mirror again, confusion all over her face. She had not been expecting Fred to be so short with her, especially because he was the only boy in this house that she figured she was somewhat friends with. Ellie caught a hint of doubt in her eyes with this thought. Maybe this was her problem. She was seeing Fred as a friend rather than a stranger, which he technically was. Her expression hardened.

"_What am I doing?"_ she thought to herself. "_What am I doing here with these boys? I don't know them, and I can't trust them. Pietro tried to blackmail me for goodness sake!"_ Her fingers gripped the edges of the sink and her muscles in her body tensed with anger. "_I swear I'm starting to act like my brother!"_

She released the sink when she felt a pain in her side. Ellie lifted her shirt and ran her hand over her still bandaged mid section. She pulled on the bottom of the bandage and began ripping the thin material off her skin, throwing it to the floor after it was completely unwound. Her bruises had disappeared except for a few spots of yellow around her ribs. Her fight with the boys from school replayed in her mind now.

That was what people in Bayville were capable of. Although Duncan had apologized to her and they had an understanding, his friends had not, showing that they had no remorse for what happened. The X-Men were no different from what she saw. They trained for combat every day, and oftentimes people got hurt, but for what purpose? If Bayville was such a nice place, why were they training for battle?

"_I should just burn this whole city down,"_ Ellie thought to herself as she lifted her hand in front of her face. She felt her hand start to itch under the skin just as her fingertips started to turn orange.

As she spread her fingers apart flames covered them. The itching under her skin turned to a stabbing feeling, but she ignored it and focused on the flames with anger in her eyes. The boys in this house didn't want to be her friend, they only wanted her to stay with them so the X-Men couldn't have her. She was being reduced from a person to an object, just like she was at HYDRA. Ellie's palm and wrist turned into flames now and the stabbing feeling worsened.

Her angry eyes widened as she caught her reflection in the mirror. She quickly extinguished her arm and her skin returned to normal, although an uncomfortable tingling lingered in place of the flames. Her teeth clenched down on her lower lip as she shook her head.

"_What am I doing? I can't keep using my powers like this! What if HYDRA just located me? Or what if they locate me, but figure out where Eli is and go after him and I'm not around to protect him?" _All of her thoughts began to swirl together, giving her a headache.

"I need to get out of this house," Ellie said before leaving the bathroom and heading downstairs. She passed the living room where Pietro was watching T.V. and left the house. It was only a few seconds before the front door opened behind her.

"Hey!" Pietro yelled after her. "Where do you think you're going?" Ellie ignored him and kept walking into the street.

Pietro wrinkled his nose as he watched her walk away from the house and ignore him. He grabbed a zip-up sweatshirt and pulled it on before zooming out of the house. Pietro was walking at a normal pace next to Ellie in no time, but she continued to ignore his presence. He shoved his hands in his sweatshirt pockets and followed alongside her, waiting for any sort of acknowledgement.

"I don't remember asking for company when I left," Ellie said sharply as she continued walking.

"Like I want to be roaming the streets with you on a Friday night," Pietro shot back.

"Then go home."

Pietro turned his head in Ellie's direction now. Her eyebrows were pushed together and a faint crease stretched along her forehead now. He wasn't sure what she was so mad about, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him.

"_You_ go home," he told her. His eyes shifted to a blinking streetlight as the two passed under it.

"I don't have a home," Ellie shot back, finally turning her head to face him. Pietro's eyes were cold and he showed no intention of turning around.

"Oh boo-hoo. Still playing the little orphan girl sob story I see. I'm pretty sure we agreed that you're staying at the Brotherhood House."

"Why is it that you want me to stay there so bad Pietro? I don't like you and you don't like me. So spare me the whole story about how you want to protect me from some scary guy from the grocery store who probably isn't even looking for me."

Pietro stopped walking and Ellie did the same. He tried to figure out where she was going with this little speech but he couldn't come to a conclusion. Her eyes narrowed at him and he raised an eyebrow at her. What the heck did he do to deserve this much attitude from her? Weren't they just eating dinner together and everything was fine? Pietro rolled his eyes.

"You know, you're being really annoying right now," he told her as he crossed his arms. "Stop being so paranoid and just go back to the house."

"Why don't you just say what you want to say?" she asked. "Just come out with it already. The only reason you want me to stay with you and the guys is so I don't go back to the X-Men. That's what you've wanted since Eli and I got here, right? You wanted to steal one of us away from the X-Men so you could feel like you've won at something."

"If that was true I would have fought harder for your brother. Then I wouldn't have to put up with a whiney girl every other day!"

Ellie stopped arguing with Pietro. She turned away from him and crossed the street, wandering into a park as she walked. The wind started pushing her hair into her face so she quickly pulled it up before taking a seat on a swing. The metal links of the swing next to her creaked as the wind blew it forward and then back again. Looking up Ellie noticed that the moon was in a crescent shape tonight, surrounded by a dark grey and navy sky. The swing next to her creaked as Pietro took a seat on it.

"Can't you just leave me alone already?" she asked with a sigh.

"Blob's got a crush on you, you know," Pietro said calmly, his eyes focused on the night sky above. Ellie straightened up a bit.

"What?"

"Blob likes you. That's why he's always so nice to you and blushes when you talk to him and all that."

"Why are you even telling me this right now?"

"Toad likes you too. Then again, Toad likes pretty much any girl he sees." Ellie was confused by this random talk, but Pietro continued.

"I don't really know what Lance thinks of you, but I don't really care. My teammates seem to get along well enough with you, which is surprising. They aren't really the most welcoming group of people in the world."

"What does any of this have to do with anything Pietro?" Ellie finally managed to say. He swayed his swing in her direction now, digging the heel of his shoe into the dirt to keep himself positioned there.

"Having you around is good for my team. I don't really get why, but it's true. That's why I want you to stay." Ellie didn't respond.

"You know what?" he continued, "Stop throwing the whole _I don't like you _thing in my face too. I'm pretty sure when you got in that fight _I_ was the one who cleaned you up. When I found out you had a brother, I fought harder for you than I did for him, too. I mean, I got detention just to try and talk to you."

"Why would you do all of that?" Ellie asked.

"Maybe because I sort of like you too!" Pietro clenched his jaw after realizing what he had just said. He looked to Ellie to see her reaction. She was just staring at him.

Pietro tightened his grip on the chains of the swing. He wanted her to say something to him. Shoot, he would have been fine if she yelled at him right now, anything was better than this silence. When Ellie failed to respond, Pietro left his seat on the swing and started walking away from her.

"Where are you going?" Ellie called after him. Pietro didn't stop walking.

"I'm going home," he answered. "Do whatever you want. I don't care anymore." Ellie watched with wide eyes as Pietro walked away from her.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

_**The Park**_

Ellie's heart began to race as Pietro's words repeated in her mind. Her teeth began to grind together as she glared at his back as he walked into the distance. How dare he tell her all of that. How dare he tell her Fred had a crush on her, and that Toad liked her, and that even _he _liked her. Allowing her anger to get the best of her, Ellie took to the air and flew into Pietro's back with great force.

He stumbled forward but quickly ran a half circle until he was facing her on the ground. He gave her a confused and angry look as she stared at him with anger in her eyes.

"What was that for?" Pietro screamed at her. Ellie flew toward him again with the intention of pushing him backward.

Pietro quickly evaded her and stopped behind her. Ellie planted herself on the pavement again. Pietro's expression showed that he was even more confused now.

"Are you trying to fight me?" he asked, his voice still loud. Ellie let out an angry groan.

"I can't believe you!" she yelled. "Why did you tell me all of that? Are you trying to make me feel guilty for wanting to leave?"

"If you feel guilty that's on you. You need to realize that when you walk out on people you aren't the only one affected." Again, Ellie flew full force toward Pietro, but this time she followed after him when he ran.

"Stop charging at me!" Pietro yelled as he darted away from Ellie as she flew after him at the same speed. He came to a skidding halt when she stopped in the air.

Ellie felt a tightening in her chest and her breathing had become shallow. Her hands clasped around her throat and her eyes grew wide as she fought to catch her breath. Pietro stared at her in confusion as she began to cough. Ellie fell to the ground hard on her knees, making Pietro wince as he imagined the feeling.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked as he took a step forward. Ellie placed a hand over her chest and Pietro noticed her face was turning pink.

"Wait…oh no." He quickly ran to her side when he remembered that she had asthma. He knelt down next to her and pushed her hand out of the way, placing his own on her chest.

Ellie's heart was beating so fast that Pietro could physically feel his hand rising and falling with every beat. His eyes widened as he realized that this was serious and he turned to look at Ellie. The whites of her eyes were now laced with red veins as she wheezed for air.

"Ellie, where's your inhaler?" he asked quickly. "You've got one right?" Ellie shook her head from side to side, indicating that she did not have her inhaler. Pietro felt his own heart starting to beat faster.

"What do I do?" he asked. "Should I run to the house and find it? Ellie what do I do?" Ellie grabbed onto his sweatshirt and looked up at him with frightened eyes.

Before he knew it, Ellie had placed her lips on his. Pietro's eyes widened as he felt his body stiffen. He wasn't really sure what was happening. First Ellie was trying to fight him, then she was having an asthma attack, and now she was kissing him? Ellie pulled away quickly and pointed to her throat and then to Pietro's mouth.

"Oh!" he said, realizing that Ellie did not just kiss him. In fact, she was showing him exactly what he was supposed to do.

Pietro placed his lips over Ellie's and began to breath into her, performing CPR. Ellie fought to accept the air that Pietro was giving her, and after a few painful minutes of fighting, she felt her lungs accepting the air. Pietro kept his eyes focused on Ellie's and he could feel relief wash over him as her eyes closed. He could feel her heartbeat becoming regular again and he stopped breathing into her. Ellie opened her eyes when she noticed Pietro had stopped giving her CPR but had not moved his lips away from hers.

His eyes were calm as they stared into hers and Ellie tried to keep herself calm. She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. Her head was telling her that this was an uncomfortable situation, but she couldn't pull herself away from Pietro. Luckily enough, he did that for her. His hand fell off her chest and he looked at her.

"You okay?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she replied. "Thanks."

"You know, that's a real mean way to try and end a fight." Ellie noticed the corner of Pietro's mouth turn up and she smiled at him.

"Got it. Almost dying is a bad move." Pietro's smirk turned into a grin as he stood up. Ellie got off the ground and stood next to him.

"Can we please go back to the house now?" he asked. Ellie nodded and the two walked next to one another down the road. Ellie looked to Pietro when he pulled off his sweatshirt and held it out to her.

"What?" she asked. "Is that a peace offering?" Pietro shrugged.

"Could be," he answered. "You look kind of cold though." Ellie took the sweatshirt from him and pulled it on over her body.

"Thanks." The sleeves were longer than her arms, so she tried to push them over her wrists. Pietro smiled to himself when he saw this.

"_Well that was pretty generous,"_ Ellie thought to herself. _"Especially for Pietro."_

The two kept walking down the dark street in silence but Pietro could not ignore his trembling hands. He placed them in his jean pockets so Ellie wouldn't notice it too. Seeing her in such a vulnerable state, and not knowing what to do had really shaken his nerves. His expression hardened as he tried to figure out why. He had seen all of the boys thrown around by the X-Men multiple times and he's never been that worried about any of them, so why was it that he was afraid to leave Ellie's side now?

He glanced out of the corner of his eye down at her. His sweatshirt swallowed her small body up in its fabric and her cheeks were still a little pink. He felt a tingling in his stomach when he thought of her placing her lips on his earlier. Pietro rolled his eyes at himself for even thinking that she had kissed him then.

"You know," he said, "When I said I sort of like you back there I didn't mean it the way it sounded." Ellie looked to him.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah. I meant it in an I-can-tolerate-you kind of way. Or maybe even in an annoying-younger-sibling way." Pietro kept his eyes forward, avoiding Ellie's gaze.

"Understandable. I suppose I don't dislike you as much as I let on all of the time. You're kind of okay."

"Please," Pietro began with a scoff. "You're totally into me. I mean you did just try and make-out with me." Ellie wanted to light him on fire now.

"What?" she screamed. Pietro turned and smirked at her.

"Well it's true. I can't blame you though. I am pretty charming and handsome." Ellie took off the sweatshirt he had given her and threw it at him.

"All you are Pietro is a self-centered, annoying little brat! Seriously, you need to get a clue."

Pietro did not respond. Instead he watched as Ellie made her way down the street and back to the Brotherhood house. His smirk faded as she entered the house and he looked down at the sweatshirt in his hands. Ellie wasn't wrong when she said those things about him and Pietro knew that. However, thanks to a momentary lapse in judgment back at the park, he had shown Ellie a vulnerable side of him. Being the leader of a gang of delinquents meant that he couldn't do that again. His reputation needed to remain safe, and that would be impossible if he kept opening up to some hot-headed girl.

"You're right," Pietro whispered, responding to what Ellie had said before leaving. "But I'm better that way." With nothing but the sound of crickets for company, Pietro walked down the dark street at the slowest pace he could manage with his head down.

* * *

**The X-Mansion**

"Charles, you shoulda seen the boy out in the woods today," Logan told his friend as he leaned against the mantle above the roaring fireplace. Charles rested his hands in his lap.

"Could it be that Eli just allowed his emotions to cloud his judgment?" Ororo asked.

"That is a possibility," Charles stated. "Eli is a teenager, and from what he has told us about his past it is entirely possible that he is still struggling with fitting in."

"Which would make his emotions even more out of control."

"Unfortunately the same is true about his powers. I must admit that I am concerned about Eli losing control of himself." The adults exchanged worried glances.

"What about the girl?" Logan asked. "Do ya' think she's going through this too?" Charles rubbed his forehead.

"I certainly hope not, but I'm afraid it is only a matter of time before she loses control as well," Charles answered. "I don't want to alarm Eli, but earlier Ellie was using her powers."

"Do you know why?"

"I'm afraid I don't. Cerebro picked up on her. What's even more disturbing is that Pietro Maximoff was also using his powers, and the two were together."

"So blondie jumped ship and went runnin' to the Brotherhood, huh?" Logan folded his arms over his chest and stared into the fire.

"Do not take it personally Logan," Charles said warmly. "I do not think that Ellie has what it takes to become some delinquent teenager. Sooner or later her conscience will catch up to her and with luck, she will return here, where we can work with her."

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Ororo left her seat on the couch in the Professor's office and opened the door, revealing Eli in the doorway. His eyes were sad and he stood slumped over.

"Eli, come in," Charles said as he waved him in. Eli complied and Ororo shut the door behind him.

Eli slid his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt and stared down at his boots. He looked to the fireplace, catching eyes for a brief second with Logan. A feeling of shame washed over Eli and he returned his eyes to his boots.

"Logan tells me that there was an incident in the woods earlier," Charles began. Eli shrugged. "Would you like to tell me about it?"

"There's not much to tell Professor," Eli explained. "Besides, I'm sure Logan told you everything. I'll go pack my bags and get outta your hair." The adults gave him confused looks. "Well you know, not _your_ hair."

"Calm down Waterboy, you're not goin' anywhere," Logan told him. "We're not gonna kick you out for losing your cool."

"Really?"

"Of course not Eli," Ororo said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's why you're here, to learn how to control your powers."

"Well it doesn't look like I'm doing too well with that."

"It will take time, but I need you to commit yourself to training," Charles explained. "You must also remember that you are a part of a team here. No more running off on your own to handle a situation."

"But there were pictures of my sister," Eli said quickly. "I'm sorry I caused trouble for your team, but I couldn't just stand around and do nothing."

"I realize that. But we are here to help you. The other students have more training in these situations. I am concerned for your safety."

"You shouldn't be. I could have taken that Sabretooth guy out like that." Eli snapped his fingers.

"That's the problem pal," Logan started, "You would have killed him. We don't do that around here."

"Maybe if you did you wouldn't have any problems."

"Eli!" Ororo's voice became stern. "That is enough. This isn't like you."

"Sorry," Eli's tone was unapologetic.

"Eli, why don't you go get some rest. We will talk more tomorrow," Charles dismissed the teen and he made his way out of the room.

"What was that attitude about?" Logan asked. Charles sighed to himself.

"I'm afraid that until Ellie comes back into Eli's life, this is the way that he is going to be," Charles admitted. "For all our sakes, I do hope that she returns soon."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Ellie took a seat on the couch next to Lance after entering the house without Pietro. Her arms were folded over her chest and her face was scrunched up as she stared at the fuzzy picture on the television across the room. Lance glanced at her awkwardly from the corner of his eye a few times.

"So…,"he stammered, "Uh…what was up with all of the yelling out there?"

"Yelling?" Ellie asked with anger in her voice. "Why, you probably just heard Pietro's big mouth. He's pretty obnoxious you know."

"Yeah, this sounds like a good time for me to go to the kitchen." Lance left his seat and exited the room. Ellie rolled her eyes at his inability to handle awkward moments.

The front door creaked open and a loud slam followed. Ellie narrowed her eyes and looked to the archway of the living room as Pietro walked past. He made sure to give her an eye roll before making his way into the kitchen. Lance turned when he walked into the room and sighed.

"You know, the neighbors already hate us," Lance mentioned. "Now they probably think we are the trashiest people ever thanks to that little couple fight in the street."

"We have neighbors?" Pietro replied as he opened the refrigerator door. Lance quickly slammed it shut.

"Seriously, what did you do?"

"Who knows with that girl. Be careful you don't look at her the wrong way or she'll bite your head off."

"It looks like you're the only one she ever has a problem with."

"Are you implying something Alvers?"

"Maybe you should just leave her alone for a while. Let her calm down."

"Whatever. I'm going to bed anyway."

"Wait, seriously?" Lance gave Pietro a confused look.

"Yeah, why?"

"You do realize it is only 10:30 on a Friday night right?"

Pietro looked to the clock on the wall. Sure enough it was still early. Normally the Brotherhood would be out causing mayhem and then dealing with the X-Men. After his dispute with Ellie, Pietro didn't feel like getting beaten up by Cyclops or Spyke tonight.

"So it's early, big deal," Pietro said. "There's nothing else to do around here."

"Well figure something out then. I'm going to watch some T.V.," Lance said as he started to walk out of the kitchen.

"Sounds good." Pietro went to follow him when Lance stopped.

"You do realize that Ellie is in there, right?"

"So?"

"Did you even hear what I just said? Give her some space."

"Not gonna happen. This is my house and I'm not going to tiptoe over some squatter." Pietro pushed past Lance and walked into the hallway. Both boys stopped in the archway when they noticed Toad sitting next to Ellie.

"Are your eyes blue, or are they gray?" Toad asked as he pushed his face close to Ellie's. She pushed his face away with her hand.

"You know there's this thing called personal space Toad, ever heard of it?" she asked.

"'Course I have. I just wanna get personal with _you_."

"Gross," Lance said as he walked into the room. He took a seat on the recliner chair, leaving the only open seat next to Ellie.

"Hey, Pietro! Get in here so she can push you around for a while," Toad yelled. Pietro glared at him and Ellie tensed up.

The two avoided eye contact as Pietro flopped down on the couch next to Ellie. Pietro scooted as close to the arm of the couch as he could to avoid accidentally touching her. The four sat quietly watching cartoons on the T.V. until Ellie noticed a missing presence. She looked around the room before frowning to herself. She left the couch and made her way up the stairs.

"Fred?" she called as she stepped onto the second floor. "Fred, you up here?" He poked his head out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, what do you need?" he asked. Ellie smiled at him.

"Are you feeling antisocial or something? We're all watching T.V. downstairs if you wanna join us."

"No, I'm okay up here. Have fun." Ellie gave him a sad look before making her way over to the bathroom doorway.

"Fred, you and I, we're friends right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. Why?"

"Well, I'm still pretty new to the whole friend thing, but we're supposed to be able to talk about things together, right?"

"Well, yeah I guess."

"Then start talking. What's the matter with you?"

"It's nothin' really. Just, the guys are jerks. They always make fun of me and stuff. It just makes me so mad sometimes."

"So they made fun of you for something today then?"

"Well…yeah." Fred's face turned red as he started pressing his fingers together. Ellie tried to keep herself calm after recalling what Pietro told her earlier.

"The guys are jerks, okay? Ignore them. Just remember that I always have your back, okay Fred?" Ellie gave him a genuine smile and he returned the same.

"Thanks Ellie."

"No problem. Now let's go watch some cartoons!" Ellie made her way back down the stairs with Fred behind her.

The two walked into the living room and the only open seat was between Toad and Pietro on the couch. Fred offered it to Ellie, but she quickly declined. Fred plopped down, both Pietro and Toad bouncing in their seats as he did so. Ellie looked around the room nervously for a moment.

"_Well, I've been using my powers a lot lately and nobody from HYDRA has found me yet,"_ she thought. "_Oh what the heck."_ With that Ellie hovered into the air behind Fred. She crossed her legs and sat in the air so she could watch T.V. with the boys.

* * *

_**The X-Mansion**_

Eli took a stroll around the mansion after his brief talk with the Professor. On his way down the stairs he noticed Scott and Bobby walking in the front door together. He thought about flagging them down to chat but decided against it considering the foul mood he was in. Unfortunately, Bobby saw him as well and decided to call him over. Eli put on his best fake smile and made his way over to the boys.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he said.

"Just getting in from a night time snack run," Bobby answered. Eli nodded.

"I thought you guys had a curfew around here?"

"The Professor's pretty lenient on the weekends," Scott explained. "But let's not tell him about this, okay?" Eli chuckled.

"No worries, you're secret is safe with me."

"Thanks. Say, have you heard from your sister today? I thought maybe she would call considering what happened."

"No," Eli's voice was stern. "Ellie left her communicator here when she left. Besides, she doesn't know about what happened today as far as I know."

"I'm sure she's fine man," Bobby said as he placed a hand on Eli's shoulder. "Ellie's pretty tough. There's no situation she can't handle."

"You don't need to tell me that Bobby. I dunno, I just have a bad feeling about that Pietro kid. I know he was talking about Ellie at school, I just hope she's not with the Brotherhood."

"Well why don't you go over there and see if she is or not?"

"What?"

"Well you know, not right now. Tomorrow."

"I dunno about that," Scott added. "The Brotherhood doesn't really like any X-Men just showing up at their house. I mean, the feelings mutual. Maybe you should stay home tomorrow."

"Wait, so you guys are saying I can just go to their house?" Eli asked.

"Well yeah, assuming you just ignored everything I just told you," Scott replied.

"I'm definitely going over there tomorrow. Granted, I may need someone to show me the way to their house."

"I take it you _are_ going to ignore everything I just said then."

"I'll go with you. It beats hanging out around here all day," Bobby said. Eli nodded and gave him a real smile.

"Then it's settled. We leave at dawn!" There was a moment of silence between the three.

"Can we leave after dawn instead?" Bobby asked.

"Dude, yeah. I'm not getting up at dawn," Eli answered. "It's called "dramatic effect". Way to ruin it by the way."

"You two are hopeless," Scott muttered before making his way up the stairs.

Eli was beaming with excitement now. As much as he hoped Ellie was not staying with the Brotherhood, a portion of him hoped that he would find her there tomorrow just so he could see her again. If things went well enough, he could maybe even convince her to return to the New Recruit team with him. Eli gave himself a reassuring nod before running up to his room to find Ellie's communicator that she had left behind.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

_**The X-Mansion**_

It was a little past nine in the morning and the X mansion was silent. The students were still asleep and the professors were tending to personal matters of their own. Eli had barely slept the previous night. The thought of possibly getting to reunite with his sister after what felt like the longest few days of his life filled him with anticipation. The large boy had already dressed himself and crept into the dining area of the mansion.

Eli placed the palms of his hands on the cushioned window seat, peering out at the fog that rolled around the front lawn. His blue eyes glistened as he drew a smiley face on the window, the warmth of his finger etching the picture into the cold glass. He smiled back at his small picture before a familiar grumble distracted him.

"Is there a reason you're up so early?" Logan asked as he prepared the coffee pot to perform its morning duty. Eli plopped down on the window seat and shrugged.

"Nope," he lied. After the warning Scott had given him the night before he did not think it would be wise to let Logan in on his plan.

"Right." Logan showed little to no interest in the conversation now, but he knew Eli was lying.

"It's pretty foggy out this morning," Eli said.

"That tends to happen around here," Logan replied with his back turned to Eli as he grabbed a coffee mug from an overhead cabinet.

"I guess I haven't noticed."

The coffee pot hummed as the hot water filtered into a deep brown liquid. Logan watched the steady dripping turn into a steady stream with his arms crossed over his chest. He glanced over at Eli and sighed to himself. The grin on the teenager's face worried him.

"What are you really doin' up this early Waterboy?" Logan asked as one of his dark eyebrows rose. Eli gave him a confused look.

"Nothing Sir," he answered. "Honest. I just woke up and figured I'd get first dibs on breakfast."

"The day I believe that is the day that Shadowcat is taller than you."

"Professor, I'm being honest with you."

Eli stood up from his seat and the two men locked eyes. Logan knew that look on Eli's face all too well. The clenched jaw, the slightly narrowed eyes and the poised stance were all his own. He caught himself wondering if these were traits all HYDRA experiments gained over time, or if this boy was actually more like him than he expected. The door flew open and Bobby walked into the room. He passed by Logan, unaware of his presence, and put his hands on his hips.

"Alright Eli," he said loudly. "Let's go to the Brotherhood House!"

Logan smirked at Eli as his face turned pale. Eli gave his professor an innocent grin before shrugging his shoulders. Bobby turned around to see Logan and instantly realized his mistake.

"What business do the two of you have with the Brotherhood?" Logan asked. Bobby and Eli looked to one another for a moment.

"Professor, I think my sister is staying with the Brotherhood," Eli admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Is that so?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure you can see why I'm interested in finding out if I'm right or not."

"Well that makes sense for you, but what's your deal kid?" Logan turned to Bobby who stiffened.

"I dunno," Bobby answered as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "I just don't want Eli to go alone is all."

"So you just volunteered to walk into charted enemy territory to back up Waterboy?"

"I guess." Logan rolled his eyes as he noticed Bobby was blushing.

"_I'm getting too old to deal with this nonsense_," Logan thought to himself.

The coffee pot had finished its morning brew and Logan quickly filled his mug. He neglected the creamer and sugar that sat on the table and took a sip of the black coffee. He groaned to himself before leaving the two boys alone in the room. Bobby looked to Eli for an explanation.

"Does that mean we can go?" Bobby asked.

"I don't think it means we can't go," Eli replied with a coy smile. Bobby nodded and the two left for the Brotherhood house.

* * *

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Lance had woken up before the rest of his housemates thanks to a throbbing migraine. He held one hand against his forehead as he walked down the stair case in search of Tylenol. He stumbled into the kitchen and found what he was looking for, taking four pills and washing them down with a glass of water.

"What a pain," he said to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Lance walked back toward the staircase but stopped when he noticed Ellie was sound asleep on the couch.

He quietly walked to the archway of the living room and narrowed his eyes at her. She was wrapped up in a dark blue blanket with her hair spread out around her and covering her face. Lance wasn't quite sure what it was about this girl that had his friends so enamored. He knew that Toad did not have romantic feelings toward her, but he still seemed to enjoy having her around.

As for Fred, Lance knew why he liked Ellie so much. She was the first female to show him any form of kindness since the whole Jean Grey fiasco. The only reason he hadn't ruined his friendship with her so far is because of what happened when he became too involved with Jean. Lance mentally applauded his large friend from learning from his past mistakes.

The most concerning relationship that was brewing in this house was the one between Ellie and Pietro. Lance had lived with Pietro for a good while now, but he has never behaved so strangely around someone the way he does when Ellie is around. At first Lance figured Pietro was just concerned about his status amongst the Brotherhood. He didn't want to be upstaged by a new mutant. But once Pietro abandoned his plan to steal both of the Dingo twins away from the X-Men and settled for Ellie was when Lance knew something was going on.

Lance grabbed the sides of his head and winced as a loud knocking on the door filled the hallway. He moaned a bit as he tried to ignore the throbbing behind his eyes. Without considering the possibility of who was outside he opened the door. His eyes widened as he met the gaze of Eli Dingo and Bobby Drake. Lance quickly took a fighting stance in the open doorway.

"Wrong house losers," he spit. The ground began to tremble but Eli simply stood with his arms folded over his chest.

"Calm down man," Eli said. "I just need to ask you a question." Lance straightened up and the quaking stopped.

"Do I look like I've got time for your questions? Get outta here you losers."

"Is my sister staying here with you guys?" Eli got his answer when Lance's eyes widened.

The three boys looked to the hallway when a new voice entered the conversation.

"Hey Lance, what's goin' on man?" Toad asked as he bounced into the room. "I felt the shakin' and I—ahhhh!" Toad jumped behind Lance after seeing Bobby and Eli.

"Do you guys seriously not own pajamas?" Bobby asked as he examined the boys' dirty t-shirts and boxer shorts. Lance sneered at him.

"Not all of us get taken care of by some rich stiff that lives in a mansion," Lance replied.

"Don't you ever talk about the Professor like that!"

"Hey, hey!" Eli yelled as he stepped between the two boys as they balled their fists. "We aren't here to fight. I just want to talk to my sister for a minute."

"Then talk to me," Ellie said as she made her way down the hallway. The four boys turned to look at her, surprised that she was behaving so calmly.

Eli felt his heart begin to race as his grin turned to a smile. There she was, Ellie was right in front of him and she was perfectly fine. He wanted to run into that house and hug her as tightly as he could manage, but he restrained himself. Bobby, on the other hand, was having trouble pulling his eyes away from a skinny, gold ankle bracelet that skimmed the top of Ellie's bare foot as she approached them. The over sized black t-shirt she was wearing hit her mid-thigh, but from there down her legs were as bare as they could be.

Ellie jumped from the doorway and into her brother's chest. With her arms around his broad neck, she hugged him tight and Eli wrapped his arms around her small body and did the same. Eli began to laugh from the amount of happiness he was feeling, but Ellie remained silent. She smiled as she kept her face pressed against her brother's blond hair, wishing that time would stop and they would be stuck like this forever. They were together again, and she didn't want that to change.

"Ellie, I'm so glad that you're alright," Eli said as he placed his sister back onto the ground. Ellie gave him a small smile.

"You look good Eli," she told him.

"They've only been apart for like what, two days, and they're acting like it's been years," Toad whispered to Lance, confused by this greeting.

"Lance, I'm going to stay out here for a while," Ellie explained, turning to face the tired boy. "I'll come back in when I'm done talking. You can go back inside."

"Are you sure?" Lance asked, eying Bobby for a second.

"Positive."

"What if Pietro asks where you are?"

"You can tell Pietro that it's none of his business where I am."

"Okay, but if you need us we're right here."

Lance shut the door and ran his hand over his face. His head was still throbbing and he groaned to himself.

"Pietro is not going to be happy when he finds out about this," Lance said. Toad nodded in agreement.

* * *

A/N: It's no surprise I haven't updated in a while. Spring Semester just started and I decided to be an overachiever this semester and doubled up on classes. It was a better plan in theory though. I'm now balancing work, 5 English classes, 1 Advanced Spanish class and all of the homework you can imagine. I'm going to be updating more now that I've developed a system though. Hopefully everyone is doing well! It's good to be back.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

_**The Brotherhood House**_

"So, I see that you've taken up residence with the Brotherhood," Eli stated, trying to hide his disapproval.

"Temporarily," Ellie replied.

"Does that mean you're going to be leaving soon?"

"Well…no. Not exactly."

"Doesn't sound so temporary to me," Bobby added. Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Hey Bobby, I appreciate the help getting here," Eli began, "But can you please give us some privacy?" Bobby shrugged before walking to the end of the driveway.

"So you're following Bobby around now?" Ellie asked as she eyed the brunette boy at the end of the driveway.

"Just today really. I needed someone to help me find this place and he volunteered."

"Why would he do that?"

"Oh he has his reasons." Eli smiled down at his sister.

"Well I wish you would have asked Kitty or someone that I would actually be happy to see."

"Why don't you like Bobby?" Ellie gave her brother a look that indicated how stupid this question was. "Oh, right. The whole fire and ice thing."

"Bingo."

The two stood silently for a moment. Ellie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as the wind pushed the majority into her face. Eli shifted his weight to his heels and placed his hands into his jean pockets before looking around the yard.

"Please come back to the Institute with me," Eli said, his eyes a bit glazed over as the spiked tips of his hair moved with the wind. Ellie gave him a sympathetic look.

"I can't," she told him. "I just…I don't belong there."

"And you belong here? Ellie you're living with four teenage guys. Excuse me if I'm being a little old fashioned, but that's not the life you want."

"What are you getting at?"

"Well, what do you think people are going to think? I'm sure it won't be anything good, especially considering the type of guys that they are."

"You don't even know what type of guys they are!"

Eli took a deep breath as he studied Ellie's angry expression. The anger in her blue eyes was something he had never seen directed toward himself before. He could sense that Ellie realized what she had just done when her eyes widened. An ashamed look crossed her face and she turned away from him, rubbing her arm as she did so. Eli gave her an understanding smile before resting his hands on her shoulders.

"You're right," he admitted, turning her to face him slowly. "I don't know them. But I do know that you deserve so much better than them."

"No I don't," Ellie told him. "Eli, I don't think that I have the makings of a hero. Do you remember the last two towns? Remember the fires I started just because I could? Heroes don't endanger the lives of the innocent, they save them. To be honest I was just thinking about torching Bayville too."

"Stop blaming yourself for what happened in the past. You couldn't control your powers then."

"Enough! Stop making excuses for me just because you're my brother. That just makes me feel worse."

"I can't just let you think that you're a terrible person Ellie, because you're not. No matter how hard you try to pretend like you're this tough and mean villain, it won't ever be true. Stop lying to yourself already!"

"Eli, go back to the Institute. Go run around the Danger Room with the X-Men and play the hero role that you were born to play. That's where you belong. But I can't be with you this time. I hope in time you will come to realize why."

Eli clenched his jaw as he stared into the eyes of his twin sister. He could feel his chest tightening with every passing second and he knew that his heart was breaking. He wanted to shake her until she understood where he was coming from, but he resisted. He dropped his hands off her shoulders and shook his head. He intended to tell her about the way he lost control of himself during the fight with Sabretooth, but Ellie obviously had no intention of returning, so there was no point. Eli reached into his pocket before slapping the X Communicator Ellie had left behind around her wrist.

"Eli, I'm not coming back," she said once more as he secured the communicator.

"Then at least keep in touch with me," he told her with a hint of anger in his voice. "Or am I going to ruin your villain image?" Ellie furrowed her brow as the grass beneath Eli's boots began to turn brown.

"Eli, are you alright?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" The anger was much clearer in his voice.

"Fine. I'll leave you alone. Just know that I'll always be here for you and that I love you."

"Right." Eli rolled his eyes and turned his back on his sister.

Ellie reached out for her brother but he walked away. Her eyes widened as she watched the grass die under each step he took. Eli didn't stop when he passed Bobby, but he did manage to exchange words with him in passing.

"I have to go meet someone," Eli said quickly. "Go ahead and go home. I'll see you later."

Bobby didn't get the chance to answer him because Eli began to sprint down the road. Bobby turned over his shoulder to see Ellie, looking defeated, standing alone. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously before he approached her.

"Hey there," he said calmly. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Although she meant for this to come off as a mean reply, her tone dripped with sadness.

"Hey, what's your favorite flower?"

"What?"

"You know, a rose, lilac, tulip or something else. What's your favorite?"

"I don't know Bobby." The brunette boy rubbed his chin before smiling to himself.

Ellie raised a curious brow as he began rubbing his hands together. A light mist began to slip through his fingers and he crushed his palms together in a circular motion. Bobby pulled his hands apart slowly, revealing a small, ice rose resting in his palm.

"You look like a rose kind of girl to me," he said with a wink before dropping it into Ellie's hand.

She stared down at the figurine, her tiny reflection staring back at her. Her eyes darted to Bobby's smiling face before they fell back to the perfectly sculpted rose. Her heart grew heavy as it began to melt on her palm. Bobby gave her a surprised look as the water began to drip over the sides of her hand.

"Aw man, I'm sorry," he apologized as he ran a hand through his hair. "I completely forgot about your power."

"You forgot?" Elli asked skeptically. It took her a minute to remember that Bobby didn't exactly understand her power, but he was aware of it. "You realize our powers are completely opposite, right?"

"Yeah I get that, but I guess I just think of you as the girl that can fly incredibly fast. Not as the girl with hot hands." Ellie searched his face for any hint of sarcasm.

"Why do you think about me at all?" Bobby felt his cheeks growing hot.

"It's not exactly easy to forget a girl as special as you."

"Then you aren't trying hard enough. Stop thinking about me or I'll melt you right here, right now." Ellie scowled as Bobby smiled.

"You better get to it then," he told her. "Because I can't do that." Bobby took a step closer toward Ellie, shrinking the space between them.

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

Pietro had been awake for about half an hour before he examined himself in the mirror. He slicked his light hair back before tucking is brown shirt into his jeans neatly. He grinned at his reflection, waggling his eyebrows a bit before turning his attention to his open bedroom door. Lance shuffled past with a glass of water in his hand. Pietro leaned out the doorway and called to him.

"Hey Alvers," he called. "Did you forget we're housing a chick? Put some pants on you bum!" Lance groaned before turning to face Pietro.

"Shut up Pietro," he replied. "My head is killin' me man. Besides, it's not like Ellie cares. She isn't even wearing pants this morning." Pietro stiffened.

"What do you mean she's not wearing pants?!"

"Seriously, stop screaming. I mean she's wearing an over sized t-shirt, but no pants. So if you wanna yell at someone for inappropriate attire, go find her."

"Fine, I will. She's downstairs right?"

"Nope. She had some visitors this morning. Last I saw her she was outside talking to them. Oh, but I'm supposed to let you know it's none of your business where she went."

Pietro felt his eyes narrow and he ran to the window in his bedroom. He threw open the curtains and pressed his nose against the glass, peering down into the foggy front yard. Surely enough Ellie was outside and she was not wearing pants, just like Lance reported. Pietro felt his pulse increase as he noticed Bobby Drake was talking to her.

His brow pushed together and his hand turned to a fist as he watched Bobby place an ice figurine into Ellie's hand. Exactly what was this recruit doing at the Brotherhood house? What was he doing with Ellie? Better yet, why was she even dealing with him?

Pietro noticed water falling out of Ellie's open hand and he smirked to himself. It was about time she put that kid in his place. He had no right showing up here, and Pietro was glad that Ellie was making that point clear. Or so he thought. His eyes widened as Bobby stepped closer to Ellie and his heart started to pound. Afraid of what could potentially happen next, Pietro used his speed to run out of the house and into the front yard.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

_**The Brotherhood House**_

It was a matter of seconds before Pietro was slamming his chest against that of Bobby Drake's, sending him stumbling back into the yard. Ellie rolled her eyes, not seeing this as out of character for Pietro. Bobby, on the other hand, was not as calm about the incident. He scowled at Pietro and started to storm up to him.

"What was that about?" Bobby angrily asked. Pietro shrugged before placing his hands on his hips.

"I don't want any of you X-Men in my yard," Pietro said matter-of-factly. "Don't you have a mansion you can go wander around instead of hanging around outside of our house?"

"Yeah, I do have a mansion. You see, that's the difference between you and I. The good guy gets to live in a mansion with some awesome heroes, while you and your group of thugs get to slum it in some boarding house."

"Excuse me?" Ellie inserted. Bobby's comment, although intended for Pietro, made her uneasy.

"What?" Bobby asked, confused.

"I live here and I'm not a thug. Nor am I slumming it."

"Ellie I didn't mean you. I meant the Brotherhood."

"I don't care who you meant Bobby Drake. I didn't really figure you to be the type of person to pass judgment on others because of something they can't control."

"Something they can't control? Ellie, these guys choose to do bad things with their powers."

"I'm not talking about that and in no way am I defending the things that these boys do. So they don't live in a mansion like the X-Men, big deal. They also don't have an adult around to help them with everything. They're figuring things out on their own and truthfully they're doing a pretty okay job."

"Yeah," Pietro added in a mocking tone.

"You're really going to stand there and act like I'm being a mean guy when Pietro acts like a complete jerk with a disregard for everyone all the time?" Bobby asked.

"I expect Pietro to be a jerk," Ellie confessed with a slight lift of her shoulders. "I expect better from a hero like you."

Pietro stopped smirking and turned over his shoulder to look at Ellie. His feelings weren't hurt by what she said or anything, but it was strange to hear her being so honest. He didn't expect a girl to say exactly what she was thinking with no regard of how it may make the other people around her feel. Then again, Pietro hadn't met any girl quite like Ellie Dingo.

"Maybe you should go home Bobby," Ellie said as she rubbed her arms to warm them up. "Try to work on that whole judging people thing."

Bobby stared into Ellie's unfeeling eyes. His stomach clenched a bit as he noticed how similar they were to Eli's. Granted he didn't spend time staring into Eli's eyes, but the light hue was a bit hard to ignore at times. The only difference that Bobby noticed right now was that Eli always had a light in his eyes even when he was upset, but Ellie, hers seemed to have a cast over them. It was now that Bobby realized he had been thinking about the twin's eyes rather than replying to Ellie.

"You know Ellie," he began, "you and Eli sure do look alike, but you don't act alike at all."

Pietro raised a brow as he watched Ellie stiffen where she stood. Ellie could feel her heart beating faster and she kept her eyes on the ground. Maybe she wasn't as much like Eli as she assumed she was. But then again, who was Bobby Drake to decide that?

"Get out of our yard," Pietro ordered, pointing down the road with a scowl on his face.

"Fine, I'm gone," Bobby said as he turned his back on the two. "Maybe you should work on judging people too Ellie."

"Get out of here!" Pietro shoved Bobby forward and the brunette boy grumbled before walking down the road.

Pietro turned to Ellie who was pushing her bare toes against the damp grass as she bit at her thumbnail. He ran a hand through his hair before shaking his head at her.

"If you're gonna let that kid get under your skin then you really don't fit in here," he shot at her before making his way back inside.

Ellie walked in shortly after him but didn't say a word. Toad sat in the open archway to the kitchen and watched as she quietly climbed the stairs before he jumped into the living room where Pietro was.

"What happened out there?" he asked as he leaped onto the sofa, rising Pietro's cushion a bit. The light haired boy paid the movement no mind and kept his eyes focused on the blurred picture on the television screen.

"Nothing, go away," Pietro said as he stretched his legs out and crossed his ankles over each other. Toad wrinkled his nose.

"Why'd you go runnin' out there like that then?"

"Go away Toad."

"You know, Ellie doesn't look too excited. Did somethin' happen with that brother of hers?"

"Why do you even care?" Pietro finally turned to look at his friend as his voice turned harsh. Toad looked at Pietro with big, round eyes before giving him a coy smile.

"Oh Pietro," Toad began in a taunting voice. "Did you go out there to rescue Ellie from the big bad Ice Man and her handsome brother?"

"Did you just call her brother handsome?" Pietro sat back a bit from Toad now with one eyebrow lifted suspiciously. Toad shrugged.

"Like I'm the only one that's noticed it. C'mon, you've seen that square jaw that kid has. He's like one of those good lookin' guys, whattaya call 'em again?"

"An Adonis?"

"Aha, so you have noticed it!" Before Toad could move, Pietro knocked him onto the floor, fed up with his antics.

"Get away from me!" Pietro screamed. Toad rolled back to a sitting position on the floor.

"Sheesh alright, alright I'm goin'!" he jumped to the entryway of the living room before turning over his shoulder, "You should probably go talk to your girl though yo. She seems upset."

"She's not my girl," Pietro's voice was calm now, a fact that Toad ignored as he left the room. Pietro groaned before resting his elbows on his knees.

"_She isn't my girl,"_ Pietro thought to himself as the television set hummed across the room. He started to think about the night he and Ellie spent in the park as his eyes focused in on the floor. "_She couldn't ever be my girl. Not even if I wanted her to be."_

* * *

_**Forest**_

Eli stood with his hands in his sweatshirt pocket as he scanned his surroundings. It had taken him a while, but after nearly an hour of searching he finally found the clearing in the forest where he and Sabretooth fought. A giant, dead plant lay on the ground and vines stretched lifelessly out of the trees, slightly skimming the grass. He knelt down by a tree trunk that had scratch marks dug into its bark.

"_So much pointless destruction,"_ he thought as he ran the palm of his hand over the tree. He replayed the fight in his head.

The way he had acted that day was out of the ordinary for him and he knew it. He wasn't the strong guy that didn't think twice about killing someone if he got the chance. He was the strong, sensitive guy that cared about plants and cracking jokes. At least, he thought that's who he was.

Being apart from Ellie, Eli hadn't even tried to be independent. He was constantly worrying about her and wondering what she was doing that he had allowed himself to fall into a dark place. Running a hand over his face Eli shook his head at his own obliviousness. He knew that he had the capability to be a killer and he ignored the warning signs from the start.

Being a twin, Eli was a small child that was underweight for the majority of his life until HYDRA began pumping him up with the mutated X gene. He remembered the agonizing pain he endured at such a young age as his muscles tore in order to expand at an increased rate. That was why they stopped letting him sleep in the same room as Ellie. He had to be gagged so his screaming at night wouldn't rattle the nerves of the other experiments.

He never explained to Ellie why he bulked up so fast when they were at the HYDRA laboratory. His excuse was that he was forced to work out to help the X gene take to his system so he would not worry her. After all, she was supposed to get the same treatment that he had been given. Eli bit his lower lip hard as tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"_It's all so pointless,"_ he thought as his body started to shake. He went to wipe his tears away but his hands had turned to their watery state, making that impossible.

He knew better than to do this. Whenever he would cry he would lose control of his power over water. He assumed it was a malfunction in the scientists experiment, but he was never positive. Either way, whenever he would start crying it would take him forever to stop. Feeling panic wash over him, Eli tried to stop crying but his sobbing continued and his arms turned into water. His eyes widened as the "X" on his wrist communicator that linked to Ellie's started to flash. He went to press the X to answer, but his wet fingers simply dripped off the material. Eli's tears started to fall faster now.

He quickly tried to hit the button a few more times, failing over and over again. When the flashing stopped, he let out an angry scream, causing the birds to fly out of the trees in a frenzy. This was getting out of hand. He was a slave to his powers and he couldn't take it anymore. Eli sat in the forest for the next two hours before his tears stopped falling on their own, and his watery body returned to flesh. He got off the ground, pulled his hood over his head, and started walking down the street in the direction of the mansion.

"_I'm over this,"_ he angrily thought to himself as his boots pounded against the pavement.

* * *

A/N: Thank goodness for Spring Break! Time to write until my fingers hurt. Hope everyone is doing well!


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

_**The Brotherhood House**_

Ellie sat on the cold edge of the bath tub with her X communicator resting limply in her hands. Eli had not answered when she tried to contact him and she assumed the only reason why was because of their encounter earlier. Her knees clicked together as the bathroom door opened.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you were in here," Lance said as he gripped the bottom of a mauve towel draped over his shoulder.

"You're fine," she assured him as she snapped her communicator back on her wrist.

"Well I'm in no rush to shower or anything so go ahead and take your time in here."

"I'm finished in here." Ellie stepped into the hallway.

"Okay." Lance eyed her awkwardly, noticing her eyes were a bit hazy. "Are you, uh, feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, enjoy your shower."

Lance watched as Ellie made her way down the stairs and he rolled his eyes. Here he was, trying to be a nice guy and he failed.

"And I thought dealing with Kitty's mood swings was tough," he said to himself before entering the bathroom.

* * *

_**The X-Mansion**_

"Eli, you big jerk!" Kitty yelled as the tall boy shuffled through the front door. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" he asked.

"That you and Bobby were going to the Brotherhood House to look for your sister."

"Well Bobby sure has a big mouth."

"Well?" Kitty folded her arms across her chest, waiting for an answer.

"Well what?"

"Did you get to talk to her?"

"Yes."

"…_and_?"

"And nothing. We talked, I left and that's it."

Kitty studied his tired eyes. She was certain that something else had happened but she couldn't decipher what on her own. She wanted Eli to give her something to go on, but his tone indicated clearly that he wasn't going to help her out any. Logan passed through the room and Eli ran after him, leaving Kitty as quickly as he had joined her.

"Hey, Mister Logan?" Eli said as he placed himself next to his professor.

"Whaddaya want kid?" Logan asked.

"I think I need to talk."

"So? Talk then."

"I think I want my powers taken away."

Logan stopped walking and turned toward Eli. He had a desperate but certain look in his eyes that Logan couldn't ignore. Something had riled him up or else he wouldn't be talking about this.

"Oh, that kind of talk," Logan said. "Well Waterboy, let's get you to Charles and see where this conversation goes."

* * *

Charles pressed his fingertips together and rested them against his lips. Eli sat quietly on the couch in front of him with Storm comfortably seated on the couch's arm. Logan stood in the doorway, still close enough to be considered a part of the conversation, but reserved from the other people involved in case he needed to leave the room. Charles listened to Eli's request, but was uncertain as to how he should continue the impending conversation with the young boy.

"Eli, what prompted you to make this decision?" Charles asked.

"You already know about the incident with that Sabretooth guy," Eli explained. "I lost control. I would have killed him if professor Logan hadn't-"

"Sabretooth has been thrown around plenty of times kid," Logan interrupted. "He'll be fine. So don't let one little fight pressure you into making a choice that you don't need to make."

"I'm the only one who can make this choice!" Eli yelled. Storm quickly placed a soothing hand on his shoulder and he calmed down. "I haven't been given the chance to make many decisions for myself throughout my life. I know what I am asking for. I know how much my life will be impacted."

"Let us help you learn to control the side of you that you cannot control on your own," Storm urged. "That is our goal here. We are here to help you learn discipline, and how to properly control the powers that you were given. Give us a chance to help you, Eli."

"Storm is right Waterboy. You haven't given us a chance to help you out." Logan looked to Charles for words of encouragement or for him to back him up on this. "Work with the other students, rely on them to help you during the next battle you're in and you'll see that you can control yourself. You just need to be in the right situation."

"I do not believe that this want and your eagerness to eliminate your powers stems solely from an altercation with Sabretooth," Charles said, finally making his presence known in the conversation. "I am happy to meet with you on a daily basis to try and decipher why you have such a strong distaste for your gifts, Eli. But I will not be the man who steals those gifts away from you.

Eli tensed in his seat and he started digging the heel of his boot into the carpet. He was trying to stay calm. He didn't want another incident like what had happened earlier to occur in front of these three adults. All he knew was that his one request had just been denied, and although he was not going to accept that, he wasn't going to make a spectacle here.

"I don't need any therapy sessions with you Professor," Eli said.

"It isn't therapy Eli. It's just a time for us to get to the root of your emotional connection to this issue," Charles explained.

"There is no emotional connection. I just want to be a normal guy for once, you know? I want to be able to pick a rose without it growing or dying at my touch. I want to take a shower without fearing that I'll turn into water and somehow fall down the drain."

"That is an emotional response to your powers though Eli," Storm told him. "That's what Charles wants to help you with."

"I'm just going to take Logan's advice. It was a stupid idea for me to bring this up with all of you," Eli stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry for bothering all of you. If I need to talk I'll find you."

Logan remained in the doorway as Eli stopped in front of him. The two locked eyes and remained silent for too long. Eli shrugged and motioned to the doorway. Finally, Logan allowed him to leave, but he kept an eye on him until he disappeared down the hallway.

"Somethin' tells me that he ain't exactly happy with your answer Charles," Logan said.

"I fear that you're right Logan," Charles agreed. "Let's just hope he doesn't make any rash decisions and doesn't go looking for someone to help him achieve his goal."

"We'll need to keep an eye on him," Storm added.

"That we do Ororo. That we do."

* * *

**A/N:** Hey. So long story short I haven't updated because everything I was writing was crap. I lost my vision for my work and had to step away from it for a while. I'm sorry I didn't let you guys know until now, but I didn't want to post a filler chapter or something awful. An agent contacted me a while ago and wants a manuscript from me for possible publication so that's thrown me off my game a bit too. I have a clear head now, so I'll start updating frequently. Thank you to those of you who didn't abandon the story, I'm sorry I left you hanging. Feel free to get on my case every now and then and I'll be sure to update faster ;)


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